Omega Team
by feenux11
Summary: The story of those who worked behind the scenes to give Harry the best chance to succeed.  Detailed summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

Only Dumbledore saw that the first defeat of Voldemort was temporary, and that the true battle was yet to come. Seeking any advantage he can find, Dumbledore lobbies the International Confederation of Wizards to create an elite international team of wizards for the purpose of combating dark forces. This is the story of those who worked behind the scenes to give Harry the best chance to succeed.

Chapter 1: Creation

"Please state your name for the record," a looming voice told me. It echoed off the empty space around me giving it much more weight than it actually had. I couldn't see the actual speaker; the lone light in the room seemed to hover over me directly making everything beyond hidden in darkness. No doubt this was intended. From what I could tell I was in a circular room and was facing a council that was seated on benches above me. It was like I was facing an inquisition squad instead of an interview.

"Marc Johnson," I clearly stated. I could hear the scrawl of quills on parchment as they all began taking notes.

"What is your country of origin?" This time it was a different voice asking.

I remembered what Dumbledore had told me about this being a formal proceeding and kept myself from rolling my eyes. "America," I stated again, although there was a very slight hint of annoyance in my voice.

"And you have been residing in Britain since you graduated from Salem Prep, is that correct?"

"Yes," I told them.

"What have you been doing for the past year in Britain?"

This time I couldn't help but roll my eyes, an action that my interviewers clearly saw. I couldn't help myself, these questions were mundane and every person in the room knew the answers to them already. "Helping the English Ministry clean up in the wake of Lord Voldemort," I told them. Despite the fact that I was in Geneva I could hear an audible gasp from almost everyone in the room at the mention of Voldemort's name. "I helped to catch wanted Death Eaters who were on the run, and assisted in the protection of Harry Potter in the immediate weeks after his victory over Voldemort."

"Can you elaborate on your protection detail for the benefit of this council?" I couldn't tell if all eight of my interviews were asking the questions or if it was just two or three specific ones.

"I was dispatched to Number Four to guard against any rouge Death Eaters that would come looking for vengeance. Within the first month of Harry's stay I was able to thwart three separate attacks, capturing two Death Eaters and being forced to kill the third. Once Dumbledore believed that the remaining rogue Death Eaters were either captured or no longer dangerous - that is to say they accepted defeat and integrated back into society – I was asked to accompany him here to interview for this job."

"Was there anything else that you were doing in England after the death of he-who-must-not-be-named?" This voice was off to my left and had a hard undertone to it.

Of course there was, and everyone in the room knew it. I was starting to think that this interview was just a test to see how far my patience could go. "There were three wizards who attempted to claim the title of Dark Lord after Voldemort died. Dumbledore and I believed that the vacant title was just too tempting for some people to not try and take. I made sure none of those wizards was around long enough to gather any followers."

"Tell us about your parents," A new voiced directed. Despite the echo's I could tell it originated from my far right. No doubt this was the real question they wanted to ask.

"I was born in 1962 to an American Auror and an Elf princess. My father was a pure-blood wizard - not that I believe that matters at all - who was part of an international task force sent to Germany in the early 1940's to help combat Grindelwald. Everyone knows that the muggle World War happening at that time was a by-product of Grindelwald's reign. Adolf Hitler was under the imperius curse and acting on Grindelwald's orders."

"Yes we do know that," the voice snapped at me. "I'm more interested in how your parents met and what kind of relationship they had."

I was fully aware that the council knew the answer, but they were leading me along. "This was the first ever war that was fought by both wizards and muggles, although the muggles of course had no idea what was really going on. By controlling Hitler and running Nazi Germany, Grindelwald had even more numbers at his disposal, and was able to systematically begin his final solution of exterminating the weak and unworthy.

"Of course Grindelwald's reign didn't end until Albus Dumbledore stepped in and single-handedly defeated him, but as Dumbledore wasn't taking immediate action, other wizards were sent to try and contain him. My father was one of these people and he, along with representatives from about 15 other countries, fought Grindelwald and his followers in Germany. It was there that my father, while doing recon work in the Black Forrest, met my mother."

"Please hurry this along," One of the members of the council dictated to me. "We have no interest in hearing things that we already know."

My impatience was getting the better of me and I couldn't contain my next remarks. "Since I am unaware of what you do and do not know, I hope you will humor me if some parts of this story seem redundant. I am, of course, trying to answer your question in the most detailed way possible."

There was a silence in the circular auditorium for a few moments as my biting remarks were taken in. Either my interviewers would allow me to continue or they would dismiss me, and I was really beginning to not care. At this point I knew that the position I wanted would be denied to me, most likely due to my being a half-breed.

"Very well," one of the voices sneered at me, "You may continue."

I took a deep breath to calm myself and then launched right back into my story. "Today many people think of elves as the standard house variety: small creatures who are utterly devoted to serving their masters. Obviously you all know that this is not the only race of elves. The aptly named Wood Elves have lived in the Black Forest of Germany since the dawn of time and have interacted with wizards on very few occasions. Comparing a house elf to a wood elf would be like comparing a Yorkshire Terrier to a Saint Bernard. While both practice a different kind of magic from wizards, the wood elves are about the same height as humans and have the same physical features, save for the slightly pointed ears and sharper facial features. Indeed the one person who was allowed access to the wood elf culture portrayed them very accurately in his books: J.R.R. Tolkien."

There was a slight murmuring between the various anonymous interviewers. No doubt everything I had just said was completely unnecessary as they already clearly understood all this, but they had really gotten under my skin so I was determined to drag this interview along as a way to get back.

I continued my response before they could come up with any more snide remarks. "My mother had also been doing recon at the time because Grindelwald had been sending vampires into the Black Forrest in an effort to flush out the elves. Vampires and elves are of course mortal enemies and their own bloody wars are spread throughout history. My mother was the fourth of six siblings born to the high king, Eliassar, and she was his only daughter. My father was able to convince her that cooperation was in their best interests and together they fought Grindelwald.

"Once Dumbledore stepped in and Grindelwald was defeated, my father had asked my mother to come back America with him. After years of fighting side by side they had become extremely close and she agreed without much hesitancy. Against the wishes of her kin and of the king, my mother fled to America where she and my father were married. For almost 15 years they toured the world together. My mother had been banished from the forest because marriage of elves and humans strictly against their laws.

"The leaving of the Black Forrest was forbidden unless permission was given by both the High King and priests. As such my mother had only left the forest on rare occasions when strike teams were sent to Transylvania to wage war on the vampires. Thus the different parts of the world that she was now able to experience amazed her.

"Eventually my parents settled back in The States and I was born soon after. As far as I know, I am the first ever half human half elf. It seems hard to believe that over the course of so many centuries there wasn't another case of a wood elf leaving the Black Forrest and mating with another species, but there were no records of it, at least as far as my mother was aware of."

I took another deep breath as I finished my story. Memories of my parents were now racing through my mind and I had to work hard to keep them out. Their death was still fresh in my mind and I didn't need to be overcome with grief right now.

I was already anticipating the next question and my interviewers didn't disappoint. "What about you? You're qualifications aren't exactly extraordinary. Tell us about yourself and why we should consider you for this job."

"Well I'm six feet, one in tall with short black hair and brown eyes. I weigh in at one hundred and ninety pounds and enjoy long walks on the beach…" My sarcasm was oozing out now and the one person who was on my side in this room stepped in to save me from really pissing off everyone else.

"That is enough Marc," Dumbledore's voice resonated. "I'm sure that everyone here can see you quite clearly and do not require an explanation of your physical features. Please answer the question and we will let you know if there is any more information we would like."

I sighed and continued on. "I am a strange mixture of both my parents. As you can see I didn't inherit the pointed ears that easily define elves, but my facial features are slightly more angular than most humans. Other than that I am built similar to that of any other human. However, I did inherit part of the elven strength. Physically I am much stronger than any other human my size. My muscles are well defined and I have little difficulty keeping them that way. I am also much faster than that of an average human. As I already stated, I also have my fathers brown eyes, but when I do exert a lot of magical energy they turn completely black, the same way an elf's does when they use raw magic.

"I do require a wand to do spellwork except when boosting my physical attributes. Elves don't use wands at all; rather they focus their magical energy through their body. If I jump off a high cliff or building I am able to simply focus my magical energy through my body and land safely on the ground. I also use this ability to boost my speed if I were in an all out sprint."

Now I was coming to the more complex part about me. Actually I had a feeling that my interviews might even be learning something knew in the next few minutes. "The most important aspect about me is my age. I aged normally until I hit eighteen a about a year ago, then the elf blood started to kick in and I am aging much slower now. The reason I know this is because I awoke one morning to feel as if my body were on fire. Every single scar or blemish I had ever received was gone and my mother knew what was happening to me right away.

"Elves are not immortal, but their extremely long lifespan has lead some ignorant humans to believe they are. Elves usually live to their mid eight hundreds. Seeing as I am a half-breed and have aged normally for first part of my life, neither of my parents knew what to expect. My solution is just to live my life and see what will happen. Both Dumbledore and I have speculated on this topic though, and we have a theory that my lifespan will be around three hundred years; give or take a few decades."

I paused as I heard the scratching of quills on paper. Obviously my age was something new to them and everyone quickly made note of it for future reference. Unfortunately I didn't believe a revelation like this would be enough to land me the job, but I did enjoy dropping a load of new info for them to pore over after this interview was concluded.

"Would you like me to continue?" I inquired. My irritation was gone for the moment and I was more than happy to wait while everyone collected their thoughts before continuing.

"Yes please," the voice on my far left prompted. "We'd like to hear about you life at school."

"Of course," I obliged. "Like all magical children I enrolled in school at age eleven. In America there are three schools of magic: one on the west coast, one in the Midwest, and one on the east coast. I was enrolled in the one on the east coast, Salem Prep, the first magical academy established in North America. My mother made my wand instead of buying one from a wandmaker. She spent hours magically manipulating the wood into the shape of a wand. When she was done I had one of the most unique wands ever. It is made of weeping willow, thirteen and a half inches long, and incredibly hard. Some wands are described as springy or bendable, mine is not. At its core is the dust of a slain vampire, a virtually unheard of substance used in wands. My mother, before she was banished, had slain one of the most hated and feared vampires in existence. His name was Sephiroth. She collected the ashes of his burned carcass and kept them as a trophy."

Again the scratching of quills echoed throughout the room. I had figured that everyone knew about my unique wand, but apparently I had taken them off guard again. Maybe if I surprised them enough I might actually increase my chances for the position. I was starting to allow myself to hope.

"I wis I could say that I excelled at Salem," I continued. "That I had top marks in everything, and was the most popular boy in school. That was not the case. I was severely inept at transfiguration and charms - I usually ended up with barely passing marks because I tried so hard and just couldn't do it, I really should have failed. My Herbology and Potions scores were passable; I received low above average scores in both. I did excel in Defense Against the Dark Arts and Dueling. Dueling is a subject that was taught just in America, and why that is I can't say.

"As you can imagine both DADA and Dueling went hand in had most of the time. I also received high marks in Care of Magical Creatures because, well, I am half magical creature. Although my elven features made me rather attractive, I was very shy and reserved and didn't have many friends at Salem. I never felt lonely by any means, I was quite happy to be by myself. I opened up much more after I left Salem, as if I was just waiting to come out of my shell later on in life."

I took a deep breath as I readied for the next part. We had almost worked our way up to present day and I wasn't looking forward to talking about what was coming next. The memories were still fresh in my mind.

"In my final year at Salem my parents once again where called upon for help. They had befriended Dumbledore while in Germany and he had asked them to go to England and help combat Voldemort. I spent the majority of my seventh year writing to them and hearing about how the war was going. From the tone of their letters I found out that Voldemort was much more powerful than Grindelwald ever was and his methods even more deadly. I was fully prepared to leave immediately after graduation and help my parents in England.

"My mother was against me going but I had made it clear that I was not going to stand aside while people were suffering. That plus the fact that I had dueled with my fathers Auror co-workers over summer break and defeated every one of them, including my father, and had established myself as an extremely good offensive wizard meant that I would not be left behind.

"Of course all those plans changed on my graduation day. That is when I received notice through the American ministry, who had been contacted by the British ministry, that my parents had been killed earlier in the day. The shock of the news tore through me. I had always seen my parents as unbeatable. When they fought together they were so in sync with each other that they were a devastating combination."

"You're parents went down fighting," one of the voices that was directly in front of me said. I was surprised to detect a hint of sympathy. "From the reports that we reviewed they killed five Death Eaters and incapacitated just as many before falling themselves. It should be some measure of comfort to know that they died while putting up such a strong fight."

I nodded my head. "It is, but it doesn't make up for the fact that they are gone.

"So you headed to England after you graduated?" One of the voices asked me in an effort to keep my story moving.

"Correct. After staying in America a week after my graduation for their funerals I traveled to England and met with Dumbledore. He was very morose about my parent's death. Apparently he had grown very close to them during their service in England and their deaths hit him very hard. He even went as far as to say he felt responsible because he was the one who originally asked them to come. I told him that it was by no means his fault. They thought very highly of Dumbledore and were only too happy when he called upon them.

"He was hesitant to allow me to lend my services because I was both young and the last surviving member of my fathers family line, but after seeing my abilities first hand he conceded that I would be of much help to the Order. Before I could even unpack my things and settle in Harry Potter defeated Voldemort. While everyone rejoiced upon hearing the news, Dumbledore was the only one to see the immediate threat."

"Yes we've heard this before," the voice to my left interrupted. I was really beginning to hate whoever that was. Many of the snide remarks were coming from him. "Dumbledore believes that he-who-must-not-be-named isn't dead yet and we should all be on our guard to prevent his return."

"That is his belief," I responded, "but that wasn't the immediate threat I was referring to. As we discussed earlier I was dispatched to Number Four to guard against any rouge Death Eaters that would come looking for vengeance. Once Dumbledore believed that the remaining rogue Death Eaters were either captured or no longer dangerous he had several meetings with myself and other powerful, influential wizards who all believed that Voldemort was not truly defeated.

"Despite what you may want to think, there is overwhelming evidence that Voldemort is not truly dead. Therefore in these meeting we discussed the various measures that would be taken to protect Harry Potter from the wizarding world for the time being. Dumbledore was able to lay upon Number 4 a series of complex spells, enchantments, and wards that would protect Harry from Voldemort himself and any remaining dark wizards who were out to claim the now vacated title of Dark Lord."

I paused for a moment to collect the rest of my thoughts. I had to be especially careful with what I said next so that what Dumbledore and I were planning would make sense. Finally I started again.

"I was just becoming acclimated to life in England when Dumbledore brought me here to Geneva to meet with you all, the International Confederation of Wizards. Because Dumbledore is a respected member we are here to push for his most important idea to be approved."

One of the voices seated slightly to the right of me spoke up for the first time. "An international team dedicated to the combat of dark wizards across the globe. It is something that has never been conceived before."

"There were signs," I told them. "Signs that signaled the rise of both Grindelwald and Voldemort. These went unnoticed because they spanned across multiple nations. If there were a team that was designated to investigate these crimes across national borders and connect the dots then perhaps the power that was attained by both could have been prevented. Aurors concentrate on the goings on in their own country. There must be someone who is responsible for what goes on in the world."

"Dumbledore has already made his proposal to this committee," the snotty voice on my left said. "By all means it looks to have passed. Right now we are more concerned with who should lead this little team."

"Well," I said, "It was my understanding that's why I'm here answering you questions. Dumbledore has already recommended me for the position."

"There are many things to consider," Snotty voice sneered at me. "But I believe we have concluded our business here and this interview is now over. You are dismissed Mr. Johnson, we will convene in private and discuss the matter."

"Thank you for your time," I told the group of anonymous ICW council members. There was a slight hint of sarcasm in my voice but I don't think anyone except maybe Dumbledore picked up on it. I walked out into the anteroom and sat down on a very uncomfortable chair while I waited for their decision.

Regardless of the outcome I was almost positive that I would have a position on the team. My offensive combat magic was just to good to be ignored and I was the first to volunteer. I really had Dumbledore to thank for everything. He had stepped in as a surrogate father these past few months and I couldn't help but refer to him as 'dad' every once in a while. It was him who had originally vouched for me to the ICW. I just feared that I would be discriminated against because of my mixed race.

The deliberations took surprisingly long and I wasn't called back in for almost two hours. I half expected the room to be fully lit when I walked back in, but it was just as I had left it, dark. Try as I might I still couldn't make out the faces or anyone seated above me.

"Marc," Dumbledore spoke up. "It is the opinion of this council that you are to fresh out of school to command what we hope will be an elite team of witches and wizards. Your skills are unparalleled and it is our hope that one day you will eventually achieve the position, but it is too soon right now. You will be second in command, and in charge of recruiting all future members."

I nodded my head. I was positive that Dumbledore had spoken adamantly on my behalf, and that him telling me I didn't receive the position was a low blow made by the other council members. Perhaps I didn't receive the position because everyone knew that Dumbledore was lobbying for this so that he could have Voldemort pursued to Albania, where he was last known to be hiding. Maybe the council didn't want someone so close to Dumbledore to be in command just yet. Dumbledore's claims that Voldemort was not gone for good had largely fallen on deaf ears and because of this he feared that the wizarding community would soon become complacent. I have a huge amount of respect for Dumbledore but even I found his theories about Voldemort not truly being dead hard to swallow. There was no magic that I knew of that could extend life and although my magical ability is pretty much restricted to offensive spells, I do consider myself knowledgeable on many subjects.

Yet I knew that it is always wise to never whimsically dismiss anything that Dumbledore says. The ICW passed Dumbledore's proposal, although just barely. Many countries would be unwilling to commit their best to the international ranks. We were named Omega Team. The name held no significance except that it was I who proposed it and I always felt that Omega was a strong word. Unfortunately the original team was fairly weak, owning mostly to the fact that a great many countries pledged their members who were not their best or brightest. In the immediate years after Omega Team's creation there was no guarantee that we would continue.

To solve this problem it was determined that the team would be granted conscription rights for future team members. As part of this deal, we would not draft anyone over the age of 25, so that the wizened elders could remain in their countries service.

Almost immediately we were dispatched to Albania to look for Voldemort. We were unable to find anything concrete, but the months I spent there convinced me that Voldemort was definitely still alive. Every once in a while it would seem as if we were being watched or followed, only to turn around and find nothing.

Time passed and we were unable to find any solid evidence of Voldemort. Eventually we were pulled from our Albanian assignment as the ICW became tired of humoring Dumbledore by investigating his theories. We started being dispatched all throughout the world and soon our original mission was put on the backburner. The head of Omega Team, a wizard called Cross, was unwilling to concede Voldemort's lingering existence and therefore only assigned one or two members to further investigate his whereabouts every two or three years as an effort to appease Dumbledore, who was constantly harassing the ICW to continue the search.

I like to refer to the original team as the prototype. Our physical powers were not as strong as they were intended to be, owning mostly to the fact that we weren't made up of the best from each country. Teamwork was extremely hard and we failed in some of our early missions due to lack of communication during battles.

As second in command in charge of recruiting I new that the future of Omega Team would depend greatly on whether or not I could get the right people recruited right out of school. Unsurprisingly many of the original team members were killed in combat rather quickly. My role of recruiter was tested early. I proved to be very gifted in identifying the talent that was needed and was able to get it. For the most part I recruited offensive combat oriented wizards, yet I made sure to vary the type.

For example, I specialize in curses and hexes. My spellwork is fairly straightforward and I just rely on my sheer magical power to out-duel opponents. I made sure than some of the new recruits specialized in offensive transfiguration, defensive charms, and obviously a talented healer to act as medic. The recruits weren't necessarily the top of their class, but they all possessed skills that complemented the whole of Omega Team. I had succeeded in my job, Omega Team was becoming powerful and much more of a legitimate force able to combat dark wizards.

Cross was killed a year before Harry started his first year at Hogwarts and I was appointed his successor. By the time I assumed command, Omega Team was at its strongest, which was good because the task ahead of us would be monumental. I divided the fourteen-man team into three squads in order to make it easier to function. By dividing everyone into three squads I was able to have Omega Team in three different places. Cross did much the same thing but he never kept the same people together for more than one mission, which made working together difficult at best. By keeping the same core group of people together I was able to cement a strong bond between squad members. The following people are the 14 members of Omega Team at the time of Harry's arrival at Hogwarts, their nationalities, and their blood status.

Green Team

1. Joanna Bellezzia, Italy, half-blood (team leader)

2. Jacques Ponson, France, half-blood

3. Osi Umaya, South Africa, muggleborn

4. Carmen Mecedes, Spain, pureblood

5. Zadaar Zadim, Turkey, pureblood (healer)

Red Team

1. Jack Barney, Austrailia, half-blood (team leader)

2. Irina Zachovsky, Russia, pureblood

3. Archer Cohen, Israel, half-blood

4. Jose Haciendo, Mexico, muggleborn

5. Tsi Lin Fu, Korea, pureblood (healer)

Blue Team

1. Myself (team leader and overall leader)

2. Matt Brown, USA (my replacement representative), pureblood

3. Kim Ryan, Ireland, muggleborn

4. Aya, Japan, muggleborn (healer)

Blue Team, my team, was the strongest by far and thus got the shorthand when it came to members. Of the other two teams, Red was probably slightly better than Green, but I tried to divide them up as evenly as I could. Many of us were unique witches and wizards. Our fighting styles were incredibly different from the 'school taught' version, which suited us well.

For example, Korea's Tsi Lin Fu had a wand that was five feet long and she used as a bo staff. Actually her weapon were two wands at either end, almost like Darth Maul's double bladed light saber. She combined her martial arts training with her dueling and was a force on the battlefield, firing off spells from either end of her long wand as she twirled it through the air.

Aya's wand was just the opposite. Hers wasn't more than five inches long and she held it backhanded, so the tip ran parallel with her arm. Aya was muggleborn and therefore was taught the ways of the ninja in her childhood before she was whisked away to magic school. As a result she held her wand the way she was taught to hold a kirsk (ninja dagger). This stance was very helpful for shooting out defensive spells, counter jinxes, and counter curses, which was her specialty. Aya carried her wand in a sheath on her left arm, ready to be drawn by her right arm.

My replacement, Matt, wielded two wands. Like a typical American cowboy his philosophy was to fill the air with as many spells as possible and hope one found its mark. Ironically his wands were about seven inches long and curved downward so that they looked like two 18th century dueling pistols. Matt wielded them as such, and carried them in hip holsters. An American cowboy wizard, that's what he was.

Matt was by far the most charismatic member of the team. You couldn't help but like him. He was always smiling and joking, showing off his goofy lopsided grin. His orange hair and pasty white skin somehow just made him stand out even more. As a half-elf, my skin is very pale and seems to shine a bit in the moonlight, but Matt's pastiness tends to stand out even more.

Aya couldn't be more different. Her, Joanna, Jack, and myself were the only remaining members of the original Omega Team. Aya is your stereotypical Asian: short, slim, and quiet. Her black hair is about shoulder blade length when it's not tied up behind her head, which it often is, and her bronze skin lets her blend in very well with a crowd. Aya is someone who's trust and respect you have to earn, and it isn't easy. Through countless bloody missions I've endeared myself toward her and she would follow me into hell and back now.

Kim is Irish, yet she doesn't look it at all. At average height her hazel eyes and brown hair do little to give away her national origin. Matt looks more Irish than Kim. The fact that she doesn't drink doesn't eat potatoes, and sports a healthy looking tan year-round makes her seem even less Irish. In a group of international wizards, where national stereotypes are played up as a way of distinguishing oneself from the others, Kim Ryan is an anomaly. She was, however, very attractive, a trait that Matt noticed right away.

Harry's first year was very uneventful. While Green and Red teams were abroad combating the forces of evil I kept Blue team in England at the request of Dumbledore. He was a little nervous about Harry finally parting from the Dursley's and asked that we be on hand should something happen.

Dumbledore confided a lot in me and because of this I knew that there was a prophecy regarding Harry and Voldemort. I didn't know the exact details but I did know that one was supposed to defeat the other. I felt that the prophecy had been fulfilled eleven years ago at Godric's Hollow, but Dumbledore wasn't so sure.

Our first order of business was to retrieve the Sorcerers Stone from Flammel and bring it safely to Gringotts for storage. This task went of without a hitch. Days later Dumbledore became very concerned that someone had broke into Gringotts to steal the stone hours after Harry and Hagrid had retrieved it. I admit that I was wary as well. Blue team could accomplish the same task, but we would end up having to blast our way out and survival of everyone wouldn't be guaranteed.

For the remainder of Harry's first year we were stationed in London and Hogsmeade doing missions for the ICW, gathering all possible intel on Voldemort's possible whereabouts, and following up on all possible leads of the attempted theft of the Sorcerers stone. Although this task became quite tedious everyone on Omega Team trusted Dumbledore and therefore we continued to keep a lookout.

Unfortunately we never received word of Harry's exploits in the catacombs of Hogwarts when he was attempting to thwart Voldemort and protect the Sorcerers Stone. We could have been on hand quickly to assist, but by the time Dumbledore sent us a patronus Harry was already in the hospital wing and Voldemort long gone. In the hours that Harry laid unconscious in the hospital wing, countless owls and patronus' were sent out and the whole of Omega Team was recalled to Hogwarts to meet with Dumbledore.

It was too soon to start a nation wide panic by announcing what had happened, but Dumbledore was wise enough to see that Voldemort's attempt at the Sorcerers Stone was the beginning of his attempt to rise again. Apparently he had grown tired of waiting for Death Eaters that would never come to aid him.

I dispatched Red Team to Albania with the sole purpose of finding and destroying Voldemort. Green Team was sent first to Azkaban to ensure all of the Death Eaters there were secure and unaware of their master's recent bid for power. Then they would go to Europe and attempt to track the few Death Eaters who had slipped out of the country after Voldemort's fall. They had avoided capture for a long time, but an attempt had to be made to locate them now, less they stumble upon their master and help him rise again.

Blue Team would remain in England. Dumbledore had realized that no small spell could be keeping Voldemort tied to life. My immediate conclusion was that at some point he had made a Horcrux and Dumbledore agreed with me, but he seemed to think there was more to the story. I wasn't sure what he meant by that but this was one of the few times he kept his thoughts to himself, which bothered me. I'm the kind of person who realizes that knowledge is power and I don't like to be out of the loop on anything. Dumbledore knew this so for him to keep something from me meant that he either wasn't sure himself what was going on or his speculations were too outrageous to share without confirmation.

"The problem," Dumbledore said in his office the day after the students had left for summer break, "is that we just don't know enough about Voldemort. If we are right Marc, and he has created a Horcrux, then we must know everything we can about him in order to track it down. Where has he been? Where has he come from? If he were to make a Horcrux, what would it be and where would he think to hide it? How exactly did he find out about such dark magic? There are too many questions and we know nothing about him."

"We know he came from an orphanage and that for seven years of his life he attended school here." I countered. "So that's where we start. Who were his friends and his enemies? What did he do in his spare time? What did his professors think of him? What did he do at the orphanage? How did he come to be at the orphanage? This is where we start, and we follow every lead we get. If we end up talking to friends of friends of acquaintances of people who knew of people who went to school with someone who came from the orphanage, then that's what we do."

Matt looked up at me with a rare thoughtful face. "Omega Team isn't a detective agency. We've never attempted to get this kind of information about someone. Not to mention there are very few people that are actually going to want to share what experiences they have had with him."

Dumbledore nodded. "The task is monumental and we don't know how much time we have." A shadow crept across his face and I could see a weariness come upon him. This kind of thing was quickly becoming too much for him, that's why he had us created. "I will begin to question as many Hogwarts staff this summer as I can. Horace Slughorn has been asking me to join him in one of his summer homes for some time now and I believe the time is right for me to take him up on the offer."

Aya silently appeared next to me, she had just a moment ago been standing back in the shadows. She felt her place was to fight and follow orders so she rarely voiced her opinion. I was quite surprised when she decided to do so now. "I volunteer to go to Azkaban and question the incarcerated Death Eaters. Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius Black were said to be part of his inner circle, perhaps they can shed some light on his actions and whereabouts during the first war. That is, I will do it if I have your leave boss."

I still hated her calling me 'boss' but it was just her way of showing respect to me. I guess it was better than her calling me 'master', which was what she originally did. I gave her a nod to indicate it was a good idea and then turned back to Dumbledore. "I want Matt and Kim to start looking into the Slytherin bloodline. I heard Voldemort was an heir of Salazar and I think tracing the lineage is the best way for us to find his magical ties. We know that the Riddles were the muggle side of his lineage and there is little we can gain from looking into their history."

Dumbledore nodded. "A wise decision, but don't count out the Riddles entirely. When Voldemort was Tom Riddle, Hogwarts student, he was very resentful of his muggle ties. There may be a little we many learn from that bloodline."

"Okay," I agreed. "Then I'm the only one left. First I have to return to Geneva and figure out something to tell the ICW. They aren't going to appreciate all our resources going strictly to the investigation of a supposedly dead dark wizard. You're the team's creator Dumbledore, and we all follow you loyally, but the ICW is technically in charge of us. I'll figure out someway of misleading them so they don't realize what we're doing."

"And what do you plan to do after?" Matt asked. For all the good Omega Team can do, they'd be lost without a leader for too long.

"Don't worry," I grinned. "I won't be gone long. I'll be back in England within a week and I plan on tracking down Hogwarts students who where in the same classes as Voldemort. Many of the Slytherin's ended up becoming Death Eaters but not all, so that's a good starting point. After that I'll work my way through class rosters and follow every lead I can muster."

Everyone stood silent for a moment. The enormity of the task at hand was weighing heavily on our minds. So many people to find, and we had no idea how much time we had. I looked out the window and half expected to see a fully risen Voldemort walking up the castle steps. Of course nothing was there, except Hagrid going about his game keeping duties. I breathed heavily; suddenly it felt as if there was a one hundred pound weight on my shoulders.

"Okay people. Our base of operations will be the flat we own in London. It's heavily warded and is the most central place where we can all check back. I want constant updates as to where you all are and what you've found. Use patronus' for quick messages and our communication relay's for longer ones. Don't trust owls, they can be intercepted. The more poking around we do, the more suspicion we'll raise and before long the ministry is going to start tailing us trying to figure out what we're up to. Don't do anything stupid like engage your tails, just give them the slip. We'll regroup at least once a month; I'll let you all know when. Until then good luck, if you guys need help following up on any lead ask one of us and if we're busy, call Green or Red Team.

"This is it guys, this is Omega's true test. We've fought dark wizards before, but they were all cheap knockoffs compared to what we're up against now. Be on your guard. Although this isn't what we've been trained for, we're the only ones who are in a position to do this. Voldemort is going to return, and none of us has any idea when that could be. Work as if tomorrow is the day he comes back."

Everyone nodded and they all left. I turned to Dumbledore. "Good luck," I said.

"Good luck to us all," he replied.

Never one for normal exits, I turned and took a running start towards his window. I leapt easily out and felt my eyes turn black as I unleashed my raw magic energy. I fell for about four stories and landed easily on my feet, my knees barely having to bend to absorb the shock. As my eyes stayed black as I took off running towards the entrance gates. On thing that wood elves and vampires have in common is that they can run very fast for a long time.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Team Party!

"Well thank you for your time. Please, if you happen to remember anything else don't hesitate to contact me." I'd been saying those lines so often that they came out automatically and without much conviction.

I stood and excused myself from Alexander Quartermaine's sitting room. His house elf showed me to the door. At least Quartermaine had been nice enough to invite me in for a drink before failing to remember anything about Tom Riddle except that he was a top student and very quite person.

Quartermaine had once been part of Hufflepuff and had a few classes with Riddle throughout his tenure at Hogwarts. Apparently Riddle didn't leave much of an impression because all I found out was that Quartermaine didn't know anything about the kid. No idea who his friends were or who he hung around with, nor what Riddle's favorite subjects were or what he did in his spare time. Sadly this was what I expected to get and what I had been hearing from just about everyone I had asked.

I nodded to the house elf as he shut the door in my face. I walked over to a bench and sat down for a moment to clear my thoughts. Edingborough was pretty enough in the winter and a light snow was falling, making the town look like a winter postcard. It was only three days until Christmas and I was hoping for a better present than another waste of a visit.

I pulled out my master list off all the people I had tracked down and crossed Alexander Quartermaine off the list. His name was the last. Of the fifty-three names I had been able to find in the archives at Hogwarts not a single one had given me any kind of information. As far as I could tell Tom Riddle woke up everyday, ate breakfast, attended classes, ate dinner, went back to his common room to study, and then went to bed.

I was able to find a few non-Death Eater slytherins who had been at Hogwarts with Riddle, but they all seemed to be woefully ignorant of what he did in his spare time. I was beginning to think that before he left Hogwarts Riddle cast a spell to make everyone forget about him. Of course no such spell existed but it certainly seemed like something had happened.

I checked my watch and realized I was due back at our loft about twenty minutes ago. The four of us planned to spend the next few days laying low in London, taking some time off to enjoy the holiday season. I got up and noticed Kingsley Shacklebolt standing about fifty yards behind me not even attempting to look inconspicuous. As I had predicted the British ministry had taken an interest as to why we were poking around their country. They still had no clue as to what we were doing, of that I was sure, but that didn't stop them from attempting to find out.

When Kingsley first started tailing me he went through great lengths to disguise himself, but I picked him right out of the crowd and always made sure to wave to him. He quickly gave up the subterfuge and now just followed me whenever he got the chance. I gave him a wave and shouted "Merry Christmas" before apparating on the spot.

I arrived in an alley in the heart of London. Our flat was across the street but we had set up a rather large anit-appirition field so this was as close as I could come. I walked quickly across the street and up the stairs and into the small flat that served as our headquarters for the past half year. Despite being somewhat late I walked into an empty place.

It was almost an hour before Matt and Kim walked through the door. I was sitting by the small fireplace we had installed reading through various documents we thought might help find leads on Voldemort. The only progress I had made was going through three beers and being halfway through my fourth.

Kim looked a little abashed as she hung up her jacket and walked into the room. "Sorry we're late, we were delayed a bit," she said as if there were nothing at all to be concerned about.

I rolled my eyes. "Were you delayed because of your work or were you delayed because you two can't keep your hands off each other for more than five minutes?"

Kim looked completely surprised that I could know about them being together. Matt on the other hand just let a slow smile creep across his face.

"So we went on a little romantic date, its Christmas, give us a break," he countered.

Kim still looked astonished that I could have found out. "How did you know?" She quietly asked.

"I'm getting pretty good at this intelligence gathering. That plus the fact that you two have been making puppy dog eyes at each other since you both joined the team." Really, its not like they were being secretive about it. They always tended to look at each other and they held hands when they thought no one was watching.

"Where's Aya?" Kim asked shifting the conversation. I shook my head. "I don't know, she hasn't reported back yet. Do me a favor and contact her to make sure she's alright." Matt nodded. He pulled out his wand and fired off a patronus that disappeared through the window.

I usually don't contact Aya directly. She sees me as her sensei or something like that and tends to overreact when orders come from me. For example if I were the one to send the patronus asking where she was at, she would immediately stop what she was doing and report back to me in person. I really didn't want her to do that if she was in the middle of something important, so I let Matt send the message instead.

It's very hard to describe the personality of someone like Aya. To her duty comes above all else, that's the way she was raised. She was accepted as an apprentice healer in Japan and is engaged to a member of a very noble wizarding family as part of an arranged marriage that was made when she was twelve. Despite this, she dropped everything and volunteered for this assignment.

She doesn't talk much and it's very hard to know what she is thinking because her face is always blank, but she is very loyal. She's the kind of person that doesn't second-guess any decision made.

Matt took a seat next to me, grabbed a beer, and started to pour over the various records and accounts that I hadn't gotten to yet. He did give me an approving glare before casting a chilling charm to make his beer cold. He took pity on me and cast the same charm on my beer.

"Dude you got to learn the essential charms. Going through life not being able to keep your beer cold just isn't right," He remarked. The funny thing was Matt probably meant it too.

I shrugged and kept my eyes on my reports. "Its not an offensive magic spell, so I can't do it. I'm kind of one dimensional when it comes to magic, remember?" Matt just rolled his eyes.

I heard the shower start and figured Kim had decided to jump in. It had only been a few moments before Aya's patronus appeared in front of us. "Delayed in an interview. I will return soon, tell boss not to be concerned," Aya's voice said. I figured it had been something like that, but I told myself it was better that we checked.

Complacency is dangerous in our line of work, especially when we're tracking the most dangerous dark wizard ever. It's always better to be cautious than to just assume everything is fine because there wasn't much threat at the moment.

Aya eventually walked in about ten minutes later. She was so quiet I only noticed because she deliberately slammed the door. Although both Matt and I were able to hide it well, I could tell she had startled both of us. After all these years Aya still can get the drop on me.

"Find anything useful?" Matt asked. He seemed glad for any distraction. Matt really hated reading.

"I interviewed the Malfoy family under the pretenses that I was an international journalist doing a piece on the wealthy mansions and manor's throughout the wizarding world. They opened their home right up to me and gave me a generous tour." I nodded.

In her interviews with the Death Eaters in Azkaban, Aya had learned of several possible locations that Voldemort and his trusted Lieutenants resided throughout the war. She hadn't been able to get anything concrete from them, and had thus spent the last few months investigating all the locations to see if there could have been any merit to them.

There was a long silence and if I didn't know Aya I would have figured she was pausing for dramatic effect. In fact, Aya was just waiting for me to ask her for her report. Just another of her personality traits, she always waited until told to give her thoughts or reports.

"So what did you find?" I asked finally. I sometimes forgot I had to prompt her to continue.

"No matter where I went, I found no trace of secret meetings or locations that Voldemort could have resided."

Matt gave an obvious grunt. "After all this time I'm not surprised. Kind of a pointless search."

"Not necessarily," Kim said making her way back into the room. I was so absorbed in research and Aya's report that I hadn't heard the shower turn off. Kim sat on the sofa in her sweats and her hair tied back into a ponytail. "Voldemort would have left enchantments to protect himself wherever he was residing. If he had cast powerful spells, remnants of that magic might still be lingering."

That's what I had been hoping. "Did you find anything?" I asked, indicating Aya should continue.

She shook her head. "Nothing concrete. A few of the places I visited had small traces of wards about them, but nothing that gives the place away as voldemort's. Almost all wizarding homes have some kind of charms placed upon them, so we really can't be sure if it was a Death Eater camp or just a false lead. I am convinced, however, that the Malfoy's do have something to hide. They purposefully skipped the drawing room in their tour and when I motioned to go in there they quickly told me that it was off limits, making up some poor excuse about how it was being renovated. The few seconds I got close to the room however, I did detect a hint of dark magic."

"Again, not surprising," Matt, remarked. "The Malfoy's are number one on our list of Death Eaters who avoided arrest. They could warrant another investigation, considering what is going on at Hogwarts this year."

"No," I said for about the hundredth time. "Dumbledore told us to stay out of the Chamber investigation. We're under enough suspicion as it is for poking around, we don't need to seem like we're Dumbledore's personal police force."

Matt rolled his eyes as he leaned back in his chair. "That's what we are though. My loyalty is to him, not to the ICW." He finished his beer and summoned another one.

"Yes but we don't need to advertise that fact. Remember that while we're supported by the ICW we have access to all their powers. If they think for an instant that Dumbledore is calling the shots then we'll be disbanded and loose all our resources. Dumbledore is a major voice in the ICW, but he isn't the only one and the entire confederation wants to think they have influence over us."

"Blah, blah, blah," Matt countered. "You've said this before, and your right, but Hogwarts is in trouble and they could use our help. I'm sorry but with Gilderoy Lockhart as the leading authority there on the dark arts I'm not feeling relieved."

"Lockhart only holds the defense job, he's not the leading authority there," Kim piped up. "Snape and Mcgonagall are much more skilled. The school is in good hands."

"Besides, Dumbledore said not to get involved," Aya said as if this settled things. "So we shouldn't worry about it."

Matt just shook his head. "Just because Dumbledore told us not to get involved doesn't mean that I'm not going to worry. The last time the chamber was opened was when Tom Riddle attended Hogwarts. Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that it's reopened now, just a few months after it was confirmed that Voldemort's spirit is still alive."

"I agree," I stated. "And if we come across anything that proves to be a solid link between the two, we'll act. Until then we let the school handle it. Remember, our job is to prevent Voldemort from rising again, and failing at that, to combat him before he can attain the power he had during his first reign. The Chamber of Secrets may be linked to Voldemort past, but I do not believe it will assist him in regaining his body. For now we continue our investigation."

"Actually," Matt began before taking a long sip of his beer. "Now we take a break for the holidays. The entire team arrives in Hogsmede tomorrow for our annual Christmas party. Before we all get ridiculous in the Three Broomsticks I want to see what kind of trouble we can get into in Muggle London. Everyone get dressed, we're going bar hopping tonight."

Joanna smiled at me as the song ended and I let go of her to head over to the bar. Joanna was a plump Italian girl, and I had known her for a while seeing as she was one of the few remaining original members. Supposedly she had a bit of a crush on me, but I never responded in kind. I may live in the human world, but I'm still a half-breed and I just didn't identify with humans on a romantic level.

Joanna, Aya, and Jack, the original members, were all in their late twenties now. My body reflected that of a man who was in his late teens or early twenties, and I believed I would look like this for a while, while they would continue to age normally.

I took a seat next to Matt and ordered a Budweiser from Madam Rosmeretta. I was raised in America and still preferred American beers to any other kind of drink. Matt held his MGD up and saluted me, acknowledging the mutual interest in American brews. Somehow he had been put in charge of the music for our annual team Christmas party and so with a flick of his want, another dance song started, something about a poker face by some relatively new American female artist.

I motioned to Matt to look behind him and he turned around. Kim stood on the other side of the Three Broomsticks, leaning against a wooden post, making not-so-subtle hints that she wanted a dance with Matt. I gave Matt a gentle push and he seemed to get the hint. Kim mouthed a thank you to me as they embraced and started to sway to the music.

Jack Barney slid into Matt's empty chair and ordered a firewiskey. With windswept sandy hair, blue eyes, and a rugged shadow of a beard across his face Jack was a true Australian. He was from the Outback, being educated at home for the majority of his schooling, and only noticed by Omega Team because he showed up at the Australian Ministry to take his NEWT equivalency tests and dazzled the judges.

"Got any big plans for Christmas?" He asked. We would all spend the night here and everyone would leave tomorrow, Christmas Eve, for their homes and return to duty on the 26th.

"Not really. I'll spend Christmas Eve with Dumbledore at the Castle and probably just have a quiet Christmas at our London Flat."

"Come on Marc," Jack started. "You can't be alone on Christmas. Come on home with me and I'll introduce you to the family. I've told them all about you and their dying to meet you." Jack was such a nice guy; it's hard to see him in a job like this. Jack is the kind of guy who always looks to bring people in alive and kills only when there is no other alternative.

I smiled. "I appreciate the offer but I'll pass. With everything that's been going on the past eight months I'd rather stay here just in case something happens."

Jack gave me a dubious look, but he did see the wisdom in it. Everyone would feel pretty bad if Voldemort suddenly made an appearance somewhere on Christmas and we were all home and ignorant of it. At least I would be on call if something happened, even if that was a really unlikely possibility.

"Alright fine, but that means you have to have all your fun tonight. I think we have to have a contest of nations to see who can boast they have the best drinkers. Marc, put a team together, I challenge you to a flippy cup contest!"

I rolled my eyes but Jack had said it loud enough that Matt heard it. "Who said flippy cup?" he yelled across the room. "I'm in!"

Never being one to backdown from a challenge, I grabbed Carmen, Tsi, and Jacques for my team and everyone else formed up. Total domination by my team followed. I could chug a beer faster than anybody the rest of my team proved to be pretty good as well. Five or six games later I was still walking upright, although I could feel the alcohol starting to take sway.

To hell with it, I thought to myself, I'll have two days to recover, lets go all out. So after the flippy cup games we moved on to bombs. Matt, Jack, Zadaar and I all did a firewiskey bomb, which just consists of dropping a shot of firewiskey into a pint of butterbeer and chugging. As bad as it sounded, it tasted even worse but it left us all laughing, especially when Zadaar started choking and was barely able to keep his down.

I then introduced the team to Irish Car Bombs, which is a shot of half Jameson Whiskey, half Bailey's Irish Cream, dropped into a pint of Guinness and chugged. I made everyone, including Aya and Kim who don't usually drink, do one. I took a bit of pride in the fact that I was the first to finish, followed closely by Matt and Jack, who were showing themselves to be quite the consumptionists.

Soon the alcohol began to take its toll on me and Matt was quick to point out to the crowd that their esteemed leader was just a bit tipsy. This lead to a roar from everyone else and suddenly I was the man of the night. I was thrust onto the dancing floor with Carmen and her Spanish hips were swaying back and forth, then just as quickly she was replaced by Joanna, who was daring enough to give me a kiss on the cheek due to the mistletoe that magically appeared above us. When Joanna was done Kim took her place and suddenly I was spinning her around as if we were dancing to a waltz instead of "Tonight's Going To Be A Good Night" by the Black Eyed Peas.

After all the girls got a chance to dance with the commander I left the dance floor. While I was dancing Dumbledore and Hagrid had appeared and they wasted no time in ordering drinks and joining the festivities. Carmen was attempting to dance with Hagrid without much success and soon they both gave it up.

Dumbledore meanwhile had come up beside me and was smiling brightly. "You young people certainly know how to enjoy yourselves," He commented.

I nodded. "They've been under a lot of stress these past months and have nothing to look forward to except more of the same. They're enjoying being able to let loose while they can."

"I cannot blame them. You make a great commander, do you know that Marc? Your men and women respect you and would follow your orders even if it meant giving their lives. Yet they see at the same time that you care for them. Do they even know that you're paying for the renting out of the Three Broomsticks and the tab later on?"

I shook my head. "I don't think it occurred to any of them to ask, and if they do I'll tell them the ICW did it."

Dumbledore patted me on the back. "I'm proud of you. You have grown to be a great man. Your parents would be proud."

I smiled back. "I haven't grown much at all, I still look the same way I did all those years ago when I first came to England and met with you."

"I believe you know what I meant."

"Yeah I do, thanks dad." As usual Dumbledore's eyes lit up when I called him that.

I knew a lot about his past and more than most people about the person he is: from his relationship with Grindelwald and his tragedy with his sister to his fears and concerns regarding the prophecy of Harry and the upcoming war. He never admitted it, but I think the one thing Dumbledore would have liked was a family. He would never have one, but I think he always saw me as a son that he could never have.

"All right old man," I said, breaking the sentimental mood. "As much as everyone enjoyed seeing me dance with the girls, they'd flip if you made an appearance."

I gave him a gentle shove on the back and out of nowhere Irina appeared and pulled him the rest of the way onto the dance floor. Everyone gave a cheer and gathered around as Dumbledore was passed from girl to girl for a special dance. Even Matt, whose pale complexion was turning bright red from the alcohol, grabbed Dumbledore for a swing dance.

If I was the commander of Omega Team, then Dumbledore could be seen as the general. Everyone on the team adored him and he had managed to make a personal connection to each of them. I could tell that while he hated being paraded around the dance floor, Dumbledore was really enjoying the attention. Soon Dumbledore had made his way to the bar where he sat down for a much-needed rest and engaged Jacques in conversation.

I made my way over to the bar and got myself a glass of water, seeing as it was getting late and I was in for a big enough headache tomorrow as it was. The night slowly wore on and climaxed when Matt played 'Pour Some Sugar on Me' and a few of the girls (I won't mention which ones) got up on the bar and started dancing. Matt, never one to be shy joined them on the bar and we were all laughing as he made an ass out of himself.

We all said our goodbyes when the song had ended and retired to our rooms for the night. Everyone would be leaving at different times and it was unlikely that we would see each other in the morning (or if we did it was unlikely that anyone would be in the mood to talk).

The rest of the holiday was much more mellow for me. I joined the Hogwarts staff for their Christmas Eve luncheon and then had a private dinner later on with Dumbledore. By the time I arrived back at the flat it was late at night.

Someone, Matt I assumed, had erected at small Christmas tree in the corner of the living room while I had been away. There were a few presents underneath it and my curiosity got the better of me so I opened them.

I had told the team that gifts were unnecessary but both Matt and Kim had gone on ahead and gotten me one anyway. Kim got me a large collection of Honeydukes premium select chocolates. Matt's present exploded after I opened it, leaving my face all black. There was a not at the bottom of the bag that read: That will teach you to open your present before Christmas morning! Your present is in the Kitchen, Merry Christmas!

Before going into the Kitchen I went to the bathroom and wiped my face. I made a mental note to get Matt back. In the kitchen two bottles of top shelf liquor stood on the table. One was rum, and the other was bourbon, my two favorites. I didn't recognize the labels but knew that Matt would only get the best.

The final gift was from Dumbledore and it was a collection of new release books that I had been looking forward to reading in the upcoming year. Two were fiction books by bestselling authors, one was an in depth look into dueling strategy, and one was a detailed historiography of the Wood Elf culture.

I had never really gotten in touch with my elf side and was looking to learn more about my heritage. All in all I was very pleased. I found my favorite chair in the living room and opened up one of the fiction books Dumbledore had gave me and set to reading.

Despite being alone, I was looking forward to Christmas day. I figured I would take my motorcycle (a Ducati I had purchased a few years ago) out for a spin. I could then spend all afternoon in an empty flat, have my choice of what TV shows or movies to watch, and even boot up Matt's XBOX and play a few games of NHL. If I was feeling up to it I might even go out for a long run. Yes, I was actually looking forward to having an entire day to myself and not worrying about what was going on in the rest of the world.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Dark Days Ahead**

I was nervous, there was no other way to put it. Dumbledore had been removed as headmaster from Hogwarts supposedly for failing to stop the attacks on the muggleborns by the 'Heir of Slytherin.'

I didn't doubt for a second that Lucious Malfoy had just used that as a convenient excuse to get rid of Dumbledore. He reassured me that everything would be fine, that he had the utmost confidence in his staff (except for Lockhart, he admitted to me) and was secretly in communication with McGonagall so that he kept himself in the loop.

In the meantime, Dumbledore took up residence with us at the London flat. The flat was a little crowded when all four of us were home at once, now it was jam packed with four young, messy wizards and one old wizened wizard who loved to collect all kinds of odd trinkets.

It really didn't matter too much though, very rarely were all five of us in the flat at once. The recon and intel missions had started up right after Christmas and were going strong. Red Team had promising reports from Albania, they had encountered a spirit or shade or something that they were almost certain was Voldemort and had chased him deep into the forest. They were confident they had him on the run. Green Team had actually caught a few of the Death Eaters they were tracking and had shipped them back to England where they were tried and sentenced to Azkaban.

Additionally Dumbledore thought that it would be a good idea to have information on Grindelwald's reign because there may be events that Voldemort could have drawn from. Grindelwald was the greatest dark wizard of his time and there was a chance that Voldemort may have emulated him a bit. So Green Team was tasked with this as well, seeing as they were already canvassing Western Europe.

Our own research was going much better. We learned that we had been asking the wrong questions to the people we were interviewing. Everyone was reluctant to talk about Voldemort for fear of being associated with his deeds. We had to start asking roundabout questions that didn't give the impression that we thought the interviewee may have been associated with Voldemort.

The five of us were currently gathered around the dinning room table discussing all the progress we had made and trying to form a good picture so we knew where to proceed next.

"So," I started off, "it may not seem like much, but I've been able to form a bit of a picture as to who Tom Riddle was when he attended Hogwarts." I looked directly at Dumbledore "Feel free to jump in if you have an opinion," I told him. Dumbledore nodded.

"First," I began, "I've found that Tom Riddle, although always charming and charismatic, was rarely in the company of others unless he needed something done. All the people I asked couldn't think of one time they saw him sitting with others and chatting as friends would. It seems that Riddle either wasn't very popular or didn't care for the company of others. I believe that he had many people who would claim to be friends of his, all his former Death Eaters that is, but I don't think that is the case. Riddle simply didn't trust anyone else, and he used people only when he needed things he couldn't get by himself." I looked around at the other four to see what they were thinking. "Thoughts, opinions?"

Matt leaned forward in his chair and consulted some of his notes. "It fits with what I've got. Many Death Eaters in Azkaban claim to be his most trusted servant, or his best friend. They gave accounts of the things they did to serve him, citing the fact that Voldemort couldn't have done without them. Yet when Kim and I asked questions like 'what is Voldemort's favorite color?' or 'what was his favorite thing to do in his leisure time?' none of them could answer the question."

"Indeed," Dumbledore began. "I do not believe that Tom Riddle has ever had a friend, he would only see them as a weakness. After all, how many friends betrayed each other to serve his cause? Riddle would see people as a means to an end. He would recognize that he would need servants to help carry out his plans, but he would never call them friends and confide in them. On matters of utmost importance, Tom Riddle would keep everything to himself."

I nodded. "I agree, which means that the Horcrux we are looking for would not be located anywhere near known Death Eater hangouts. Voldemort would see that as a weakness." I paused and looked through my notes. "That leads me to my second point. "Voldemort was an avid fan of rare, valuable item and trinkets. Kim, tell me what you've got."

"Well, from interviews with Voldemort's Slytherin class buddies, we've learned that he took an interest in learning about the history of Hogwarts and its founding members. He would have people comb through hundreds of books looking for information on hidden rooms, valuable artifacts left behind, and anything else that he could find and collect."

Kim took a breath and continued. "From what I could gather, Riddle believed that he had breached every part of the castle, he alone had unlocked all of its secrets. Unfortunately, this apparently didn't lead him to finding any artifacts from the days of the founders, which what he appears to have been after."

"If he found them," Dumbledore began, "he would not have told anyone. He would have kept everything to himself, so we cannot know for sure what he did or didn't find. From what I know, both Gryffindor's sword and Ravenclaw's Diadem are rumored to be lost somewhere in the castle, protected by old enchantments. We must assume that Tom was after both of these items and that he found at least one, if not both."

I shook my head. "That makes no sense. If he found one of those items, then why was he still searching for the cup of Hufflepuff?" Dumbledore had shown us all the memory of the elf he had collected. We knew that Riddle had stolen the cup.

"I think that the cup fits all the info we've gotten," I continued. "To Voldemort it is a rare and valuable artifact that was thought to have been lost to the ages. It represents power, for it belonged to one of the founders of Hogwarts. In Voldemort's mind, this would be the perfect option for a Horcrux."

"I completely agree," Dumbledore said. "And yet, he combed that school for seven years searching out its secrets. I can't believe that someone with his powers came away empty handed."

"I don't think it matters what he turned into a Horcrux," Matt said as if this should be obvious. "I think what is important is figuring out where he hid it. That's what we need to know."

I sighed. "Your right, but with so little information available to us, I believe we have to focus on whatever we're able to get. Given the choice, I would rather know what Voldemort's Horcrux is rather than not know."

"He's got a point," Kim added. "Why don't you tell us what you've found Aya?"

Aya looked to me for permission, but I was already nodding my approval. "Much like his obsession with rare artifacts, Voldemort relished places of value to him. I'm not sure what he considered valuable, but I don't think it matters if it was positive or negative. A place he doesn't think of fondly may hold just as much importance in his mind as a place he adores, such as Hogwarts. At first this lead me to believe that we may find a clue at the orphanage where he was raised, but I didn't find anything there.

"My guess is the orphanage is to obvious a place to hide something as valuable as a Horcrux. Not only is it overcrowded, making hiding spots hard to come by, but too many people know about his connection to the place. That was the first place we all thought to look for his Horcrux, which is precisely why he left nothing there for us to find."

"Very astute," Dumbledore interjected. "I believe that the hiding place has some connection to the life of Tom Riddle, not Lord Voldemort. I also believe that it would be something he believes no one else would know about. We can therefore cross off any public places. It must be remote."

"What about Hogwarts?" I asked.

"Too many people would think to look there," Dumbledore countered. "He would not just leave something so valuable for just any student to stumble across."

"What about the Chamber of Secrets?" Kim asked. "If he's the one that originally opened it that it would be a good place to hide something."

"That tracks," I agreed. "Plus it would explain why the chamber is open now. Maybe Voldemort infiltrating the castle last year triggered something in the Horcrux and now the soul inside is acting out and has reopened the chamber?"

"A very interesting theory," Dumbledore began, "and something that should be considered. However, I do not believe this to be so. I have never heard of a soul trapped in a Horcrux to have that much power where it could single-handedly cause the events that have happened this year.

"Also, if legend holds true and there is a monster as a guardian, then I do not think that Voldemort would leave a Horcrux in the same place. It would be too risky, the monster may somehow destroy the Horcrux."

I nodded. When put like that it would seem logical that Voldemort wouldn't do something like that. Then another idea occurred to me. "Didn't we say that Voldemort thought that he alone had found all the secrets the castle had to offer? The castle, to me, represents the most important place in the life on Tom Riddle. It was the only place he considered home. He would definitely want to hide a Horcrux there if he could, and if he believed that he found a room, or a chamber that no one else had, then that would be the perfect hiding place, protected by the magic of the school."

"A theory worth looking into. The castle must be searched top to bottom, over and over, until we're sure there is nothing hidden that could be a Horcrux," Dumbledore conceded.

We continued our discussion for a while. It was frustrating only having bits and pieces of information on which to form our theories. The one thing we had going for us was that Voldemort, if nothing else, was predictable. His belief that he was the supreme wizard in the world and that he alone could do what others could not is what we based many of our conclusions on. Before we knew it, the sun was setting and we had been sitting at the table for the majority of the afternoon. I wrapped the meeting up the way I always did, giving a quick recap of what we had discussed and then making sure everyone knew where to proceed.

I could tell that Matt was getting impatient with all this interviewing and research, and I couldn't blame him. We had been at this for almost a year now and had very little to show for it. We were meant for combat, and this tediousness was starting to wear on us. Hell I was likely to curse the next person who told me 'Sorry but I just don't remember anything about Tom Riddle'.

Dumbledore left to meet with Cornelius Fudge. Even though he had been removed he was trying to appeal the decision through the ministry. We didn't have much hope of him getting his job back, but we knew he had to try. I ordered Chinese food and the four of use settled down for the night. Aya padded into her room where she began going through her meditation exercises. Kim settled into everyone's favorite recliner (the competition was always fierce for who got it every night) and began reading a book. Matt and I retired to the TV room and began playing XBOX.

Say what you will about muggles and their dependency on electricity; the invention of television, Hollywood movies, and video games was great for the wizarding world. Wizarding chess, exploding snap, and gobstones got nothing on those leisure time activities. Matt and I played for most of the night, falling completely into our own little zone. We didn't really notice the passing of time, or what everyone else happened to be doing. I think Kim came in at one point and tried to pry Matt away for some quality couple time, but we just continued our game and she gave up.

It was a little after midnight when the patronus came in through the open window, and I was still engrossed with the TV screen and didn't notice it at first. Finally my mind processed the fact that there was a glowing tiger on my left, so I paused the game and looked up. Joanna's voice spoke through the tiger's mouth.

"There was an attack and Jacques was hit. He's not doing well; I don't think he's going to make it. Get here ASAP."

I turned to look at Matt but he was already up and out of the room, getting Kim and Aya. I sat stunned for just a few moments processing what I had heard. Green Team was supposed to be hunting rouge Death Eaters; did they find one and get into a duel? A duel with a Death Eater who has been on the run could hardly be considered tough; no way someone like Jacques would get taken down that way. But then again, history is filled with cases where a lucky shot won and otherwise unwinnable duel.

I sent a patronus off to Dumbledore letting him know what happened and where we were going. Matt came back with Kim and Aya, everyone dressed and ready to go. I rolled up my sleeve and unclasped my watch. There, on the underside of my wrist, was the Greek letter omega in black ink tattooed on my skin.

The concept behind the Dark Mark was a good idea, and something we needed to copy in order to be able to regroup at any time. Our tattoos were small in comparison to the Dark Mark, and I allowed people to get them wherever they wanted. Many people did like me though, and got it on the underside of the wrist where the band of a watch can hide it from view. Others, like Matt, opted for a slightly larger and more visible tattoo, located on his forearm.

I took my wand from its clip on my waist and touched it to the tattoo, thinking to myself that I needed to get to Joanna. I felt a kind of tingling sensation throughout my body and as I turned to apparate, let the sensation guide me to Northern France where Green Team was currently located.

If I had been feeling slightly hopeful after our meeting earlier with Dumbledore, that was sucked out and now I just felt raw and weary. Apparently the rouge Death Eaters had caught on to Green Team's attempts to track them down and had ambushed them.

All four of the Death Eaters were killed but not before they hit Jacques with some kind of dark curse. He died a short while after the battle. His death served as a reminder of the seriousness of our mission. No one had thought that the stakes were that high yet, but when dealing with anything concerning Voldemort we now knew to always be on alert.

Jacques body was sent back to his home in Southern France where his parents would have a proper funeral and bury him on the family land. We wouldn't be going to the funeral; it would attract too much attention. Instead we would do what we always did whenever one of us fell in battle, gather at a bar and toast to his memory.

The setting couldn't have been more different than when we were last all together during the holidays. The Three Broomsticks had been filled with fourteen kids in their twenties all partying and enjoying each others company. Now we were crowded into a hole-in-the-wall bar while a cold rain lashed against the dirty windows.

Joanna stood up and moved to the head of the rectangular table we were all seated around. The team leader always gives a speech first, followed by the overall leaders speech. I was feeling numb, this would be my first speech and I wasn't sure where to even begin when my turn came.

"Having been a part of this team for as long as I have, you'd think I'd be used to seeing members killed in the line of duty," Joanna began. Her voice was shaky and you could tell she was holding back tears. "The fact is, you can never get used to death, nor is it something you can prepare yourself for. We all know that by serving on Omega Team that our lives could be cut short at any moment, but that concept is never really understood until something like this happens.

"Jacques was my friend. He was everything that we as Omega's pride ourselves on being: strong, smart, and incredibly talented. He prided himself on his abilities, and couldn't resist showing off a bit." Joanna let a smile creep across her face, as if she was recalling a memory.

"I think the hardest part about something like this is convincing yourself that it wasn't your fault. It seems like there were thousands of different things I could have done as team leader to prevent this from happening, but the sad fact is that I did everything right, and Green Team did everything right. His death was just the sad outcome of being surprised by a group of desperate people who were determined to avoid capture. I could go on and talk about how it was meant to be, how destiny determined that Jacques give his life, but we all know that's bullcrap. Jacques didn't give his life for our cause, and it wasn't destiny, it was him doing the job he was trained to do and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

"I'm grateful for being able to know someone like Jacques, and I know the world is worse off for his loss. We have to move on now, and continue to do our job. We must always keep him in our hearts and remember what the cost can be for the mission we've been entrusted with. We move forward while remembering what it took for us to come this far." Joanna raised her shot glass. "I propose a toast to Jacques. Our lives are all the better for the opportunity to have him in it, and the world is indebted to him for the service he provided."

We all drank in silence. Joanna wiped a tear that had managed to escape and trickle down her cheek. She moved back to her original seat and all eyes were suddenly on me. I stood and moved to the head of the table and began my speech.

"There are too many things to be said here tonight in memory of someone who was proud to call himself an Omega. We are gathered here to remember our fallen brother, but we must also remember that he is not the first, nor will he unfortunately be the last to fall in the line of duty. We must remember all who have come before us, and the sacrifices they made to get us to where we are today.

"Most importantly, we must realize that this is but the beginning of what is to come. We may all think ourselves invincible, but the reality is there may be more of these gatherings before our mission is complete. We began as an international team dedicated to the tracking and capture of dark wizards, and have now come up against our greatest challenge yet. We must take a lesson from Jacques: we are never safe. Voldemort's reach is long indeed and he is no doubt doing everything he can to return to form and eliminate those who stand in his way. He knows we are looking for him and he will do anything and everything he can to stop us.

"Right now we are the first and the last line of defense against him. The wizarding world has grown complacent, believing the threat to be past. We know different and therefore we must bring the fight to him. We gather tonight to remember Jacques and mourn his passing. Tomorrow we part again to resume where we left off, and remembering that the cost of failure is death. As Abraham Lincoln once said: 'death is the last full measure of devotion a man can give to his cause', and that 'the dead shall not have died in vain.' I believe this entirely, and I also believe that those who die never leave us. We remember them in our hearts and we honor them with our actions."

I raised my glass and everyone followed suit. "To Jacques, may you forever rest in peace." We all drank slowly, savoring the burn of the liquid as it moved down the back of our throats.

I sat back down in my seat and everyone was quiet, lost in thoughts. I was thinking that never had the enormity of the task ahead of us seemed so heavy as it did now. Voldemort hadn't even risen yet and we were already loosing team members. Who would be next? Would it be Matt, one of my closest friends despite the fact we had only known each other for two years? Or Kim, dying before being able to fully understand the feelings she and Matt had for each other? What about Aya, Joanna, or Jack, the three people who had been with me the longest? These types of thoughts were destructive, yet there was little I could do to keep them out of my mind.

From the look on everyone else's face they were thinking along the same lines. After about five or ten minutes Matt finally spoke up, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "I remember when I first got here, Jacques was the first member I met. You'd think he'd have been welcoming but his first words to me were 'get out now, everyone here is crazy!'"

We all laughed and that seemed to be all we needed. Soon everyone was telling stories about Jacques and the mood lightened considerably. I just sat back in my chair and listened, my mind still on the future and what was to happen to everyone seated around the table right now. After a while I got up and motioned to Blue Team it was time for us to return to London. There was too much to do for us to spend the night in France like Red Team would be doing.

Both Aya and I had to be up early to make our appointment at the ministry archives where we'd spend hours pouring over records for anything that might relate to one of our searches. It was very late (or very early depending on how you look at it) by the time we got home and I crawled into bed. I waved my wand in a vain effort to set a personal alarm charm that would wake me up in about four hours (as usual it didn't work and Aya would end up having to wake me up). I was asleep by the time I hit the pillow.

In just a few days things had gotten even worse. Blue Team was standing in Dumbledore's office, the exact same place we had been a year ago. If I had thought things were bad a year ago when we made plans to begin our research, then things were dreadful now. On Dumbledore's desk lay the remains of Tom Riddle's diary. All of us knew exactly what it was, but I think only Dumbledore and I grasped the true reality of what was in store for us.

"It doesn't add up," Kim finally said. "No way would Voldemort let his Horcrux be destroyed that easily. We missed something."

Matt seemed positively joyful as he spoke up. "It wasn't easy by any means. Harry nearly lost his life trying to defeat the Horcrux and the basilisk. This is it, I think we got him!"

"No Matt," I said. My voice sounded incredibly tired, and I knew I wasn't going to be sleeping well for a while. "You don't understand. Look at all the evidence."

I could tell that Matt was trying to fit all the pieces together, but he just couldn't get it. I couldn't blame him, what Voldemort had done was unthinkable.

"A Horcrux has indeed been destroyed," Dumbledore said. "But I fear that this is only the beginning."

Realization suddenly flashed across Kim's face. The look she gave was one of complete horror. "He didn't..."

I nodded my head. "He was after the cup of Hufflepuff, plus whatever was hidden here in Hogwarts. We also know there is no way he'd allow a Horcrux to fall into the hands of one of his Death Eaters, unless it was one of many."

Matt's eyes suddenly grew. "You think he made more than one?"

"That is precisely what we think," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort believed himself invulnerable to death. He cared nothing for his own soul, it only makes sense he wouldn't fear splitting it as many times as necessary to achieve immortality."

"That means we're fucked," Matt said. His elation minutes before had totally evaporated. "We're back to square one, and there is no way for us to proceed. There is no way we can figure out how many Horcrux's he created."

I nodded and privately agreed. "We know the first ones he created were probably the cup, plus any other artifacts he could get his hands on. My guess is that those are the ones that are hidden and guarded by powerful dark magic. But there could be any number of other Horcrux's that he gave to his associates that were intended for some cruel purpose such as reopening the chamber."

"We cannot give up hope," Dumbledore assured us. "The situation is far more complicated now that it has ever been, but we cannot simply stop our search because of the enormity of it."

"Look how far we've come," Aya piped up. "We cannot simply stop now. In one year we've gathered more information on Voldemort that anyone has ever done. We must continue."

"Voldemort wasn't perfect," Kim added. "No matter how much he thinks so. Like Aya said, we've got info on him, probably more than he thought anyone could ever collect. I think he made a mistake somewhere. Someone must have seen him doing something. We just have to look harder and not dismiss even the most trivial detail we find."

It was a false hope. Kim and Aya managed to raise our spirits a bit, but the sad fact was that we could look our entire lives and not find a single thing.

"Marc," Matt said. "Let me make a suggestion. Call back Green Team. They aren't doing anything except chasing ghosts in Europe. We need all the help we can get here. Let Red Team continue their quest to find Voldemort, but lets just leave the fugitive Death Eaters alone for now."

"I agree with Matt," Dumbledore said. "We need more people here looking into the history of Tom Riddle."

I buried my face into my hands and let a slow sigh escape me. For about the thousandth time since we began this task a year ago my mind reminded me that this wasn't what we were trained for. We were combat wizards; we had no place in libraries and archives, poring over documents that were made before we were born. Before my mind could wander too much into despair I reined it in. I reminded myself that we were the only ones who could do this. We had to do whatever possible.

"I'll do it. I'll recall Green Team. However, that's going to raise a lot of questions at the ICW. They'll want to know why the majority of their dark wizard hunters are camped in England doing research. In order to keep them in the dark I'm going to have to pull Red Team out of Albania and have them return to normal duty."

"Don't you think it's time we let the ICW know what is going on?" Matt asked.

"I would advise against it," Dumbledore spoke up. "No one truly believes as we do, that Voldemort will rise again. They are all deluded into thinking that he is gone forever, despite the signs. He invaded the school last year and the English Ministry still denies it was actually him. Fudge's official statement said that Quirrell was a secret Voldemort supporter who deluded himself into thinking that he was next in line to claim the throne. Despite the evidence I have presented him, Fudge will not see reason. I have no doubt the ICW would believe the same."

I nodded. "Its just us for right now. We just have to accept that. I'll send word to Joanna. I think they'll take over our flat in London and we'll move to Hogsmede. I want to be as close to Harry as possible."

"Then we are in agreement," Dumbledore said. "Once again I say good luck to us all."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4: Reading the Signs

The only other time in my life that I had felt such despair was my graduation day, when I found out my parents had been killed. Days turned into weeks, which rolled into months, and we couldn't find anything.

Blue Team had permanently rented three rooms from Madam Rosmerta, but even living above a bar couldn't liven our mood. Matt and I shared a room while the girls took the second for themselves. The third room was for all our research. Dozens of boards had information stuck across them while tables overflowed with documents and books.

Aya, the most organized out of all of us, had managed to keep some semblance of order in the room, yet you could never tell just by looking. Any possible relevant piece of information was pinned to the boards and it looked like a giant collage. We would all spend countless hours staring at the boards, hoping to find connections that would enable us to open up a new line of inquiry.

I originally thought the problem would be us running into a brick wall after just a few days and not knowing where to go from there. In fact, the opposite had happened; we were always finding new possibilities and forming new theories. Any evidence we could find, however, couldn't support the theories. It was taking us weeks just to disprove each new thought.

We sometimes had to travel across the entire country to check out a location we thought might be connected to Voldemort, only to find we were chasing ghosts. We spent all of Harry's third year engrossed in our research, only to come up with more questions than answers.

On top of that, the English Ministry was stonewalling us when it came to the search for Sirius Black. With eight Omega's currently residing in England I would have thought that the Ministry would have fallen over backward for our assistance in catching him, yet we were told it wasn't our business and we were to keep out of the investigation.

Apparently because it wasn't an international manhunt the Aurors thought they could handle it on their own. What was worse was Dumbledore telling us everything was fine after Black broke into the castle not once but twice. I couldn't believe that it had happened with us residing just down the road, but not being allowed to perform nightly patrols of the grounds was what finally did it for me.

I had it out with Dumbledore two days after Black had been found in the boys dormitory. Never had I yelled at Dumbledore, but I couldn't help it. Black had been five feet from Harry yet Dumbledore seemed content that the boy was safe. I called him irresponsible and stormed out of his office. I was so frustrated from the lack of results from our research that I lost my temper. I couldn't see Dumbledore's side and he seemed content to not share his thoughts with me, one of the first times he didn't.

As I exited the castle I took off running and didn't stop until I reached London the next day. Usually a run that long calms me down but when Joanna opened the door to her teams flat I was still pissed as hell. Green Team did their best to calm me down but I could tell that they felt a little resentful about not being allowed to help in the investigation as well.

I felt really foolish a few months later when I found out exactly why Dumbledore didn't want me chasing Sirius Black around. I apologized to Dumbledore quite a few times, and each time he just waved me off and told me to think nothing of it. I did, however, tell him that in the future he needed to communicate his thoughts with me so I understood his motives behind the decisions he made. His reply to that was he wasn't sure the entire story behind Sirius himself, but knew enough about the friendship that James Potter had with Sirius to know that Harry was never in danger of being murdered.

"We may have thought Black a Voldemort supporter," He told me, "But so strong was the friendship between himself and James Potter that I believed he could never bring himself to harm Harry."

I myself thought this may have been a risk taken by Dumbledore, after all I found many instances where Death Eaters not only betrayed their closest friends but their families as well. Yet all turned out well and we gained in Sirius another man who believed in Voldemort's inevitable return and was committed to our side.

Dumbledore also told me of the prophecy that Sybill Trelawney had made during Harry's Divination exam. It troubled me to hear, even though Voldemort's return was something we had all come to accept as inevitable. What bothered my team and me the most, I think, was that it seemed to be happening sooner than we had hoped. True it had been two years since the incident with the Sorcerers Stone, but somehow I had hoped we'd have a much longer time. We still had no justifiable leads as to the whereabouts of any of his Horcrux's.

In preparation for the ultimate return of the Dark Lord, I instituted dueling sessions for all of us to hone our skills that had slowly become rusty after a few years dedicated to nothing but research. Turns out this was a very good idea, as many of us seemed to have lost our edge.

Dumbledore was gracious enough to lend us the Hogwarts grounds to conduct our sessions seeing as the student body had been dismissed for summer break. The combination of the wide-open grounds and the densely packed forest made for a variety of scenarios that we could practice.

At first I kept it simple and just pitted Blue Team against Green Team and that worked for a bit as everyone shrugged of the rust, but as we eventually got back into shape I had to change up the teams because Blue was just too good and Green was a man down. The best teams turned out to be the old vs. the new. Aya, Joanna, and myself, the Omega veterans, took on the rest of the team, some of whom had yet to see any action as an Omega.

Over the course of a few weeks we were back in top form and I felt satisfied enough to go back to the research that had been neglected. I did make sure to schedule a weekend full of sparring sessions at least once a month to make sure that we never fell that far out of practice again.

News of Bertha Jorkins disappearance in Albania reached me just as Green Team left for London. Immediate warning bells went off in my head and I don't think anyone believed that her vanishing in Voldemort's last known hiding spot was a coincidence.

Later that day Dumbledore sent word that Harry had woken up the previous night with a horrible dream about Voldemort. Events were starting to unfold just weeks after the escape of Peter Pettigrew and it seemed as if Voldemort had finally found one of his followers he had so long been waiting for. Blue Team stayed close to Hogsmede for the next few days, waiting for word from Dumbledore who was looking into the disappearance of Bertha and waiting for a follow-up from Sirius regarding Harry's dream.

When word finally came from the castle, it was Dumbledore summoning us to a meeting in his office immediately. Among all the information he had collected on recent events, he also told us he had found an ally who was willing to lend us aid...

Authors note: Sorry this is such a short chapter, but I couldn't think of anything really eventful that was going on outside Hogwarts for the team to be involved in. Thanks to all who have read and followed this story, I promise the action is coming soon, I just need to move the story a little more before we get to the rise of Voldemort and then the story should really start rolling.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Unexpected Ally

The four of us made our way onto the Hogwarts grounds. I was unsure what to make of Dumbledore's message. If there were anyone out there who's talents could have helped us, surely I would have recruited them already, unless they happened to have just graduated in the past few years.

Moreover I felt a little upset by Dumbledore's impulsiveness. We were Omega Team after all, who could possibly hope to be of any use to us? Then again, if they happened to be an accomplished researcher that specialized in any and all things Voldemort, it would definitely be a positive.

As we made our way up the front steps to the entrance I felt a strange feeling slowly creep across me. It was as if the back part of my mind was trying to tell me that something wasn't right. I looked around and couldn't find anything out of place, and the rest of Blue Team seemed completely at ease.

The feeling only grew as we made our way through the winding corridors to Dumbledore's office. The long-dormant elf part of me was now screaming that danger was close, as if we were walking into a trap. Impossible, I reminded myself. Hogwarts was the safest place on Earth. Nothing could enter the grounds unnoticed.

Except Lord Voldemort, I thought. He's already done it once before. He could be lurking here somewhere, waiting to ambush us.

I stopped at the stone gargoyle that lead to Dumbledore's office. Everything had looked normal so far, yet I could feel goose bumps across my skin, making my arm hair stand almost strait up. Again I glanced at my team only to find they were perfectly at ease.

"What's up Marc?" Matt asked. "You look positively spooked."

I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts, but that didn't work. The elf instincts were screaming at me to do something. "Something doesn't feel right," I replied. "Anyone else got a bad feeling?" One by one Matt, Kim, and Aya all shook their heads.

"I think you've been stuck inside too much," Matt told me. "All this constant research has finally gotten to you. When we get back, you take a long weekend off and get away."

As if something as simple as continuous research could ever break me. It could aggravate and bore the crap out of me definitely, but not break me. "No, that's not it. There is definitely something wrong here. Just bear with me, okay? Better safe than sorry. Get your wands out and be prepared."

Everyone got his or her wands out and at the ready. Matt always looked a bit comical because he really did hold his like he was wielding two pistols. I unclipped my wand from my belt and went forward. The gargoyle slid aside revealing the spiral stairway.

Cautiously the four of us moved up, in our standard procedure. I took the first fifteen feet, then stopped and aimed my wand upwards as Matt passed me. He stopped fifteen feet in front of me and covered the passage as Kim started her advance. Slowly we moved up the stairway, covering each other as we moved forward one at a time.

We got to the large oak door and I pressed my ear to it, but couldn't hear anything in the room beyond. I motioned to Aya to blow the door open, and took my place on one side of the door. Matt stood on the other side, ready to charge in as soon as the door was gone.

I again tried to listen for any kind of sound coming from within the room. A standard detector spell would have told me if there was anything beyond, but those spells can be fooled or countered, so we rarely relied upon them. I held up three fingers, and put one down. Aya stood in front of the door and made ready to blow it while Kim, Matt, and I crouched on the sides, ready to spring through.

As soon as I put my last finder down, Aya made a downward slash with her wand and the door blew into hundreds of pieces. As per our standard tactics, I was the first through the door, covering the area strait ahead, ready to engage any threat. Matt and Kim were right behind me, and they fanned out to the right and left, looking for targets anywhere in their line of sight. Dumbledore sat alone behind his desk, a slight look of surprise on his face. The rest of the room was empty.

"Clear right," Matt stated.

"Clear left," Kim announced.

"Clear," I finished, feeling slightly foolish. Something still didn't feel right, but I couldn't deny that there wasn't anything wrong in Dumbledore's study.

"Sorry Albus," Kim said. "Marc got a bad feeling something wasn't right so we decided not to take any chances." There was no trace of frustration or annoyance in Kim's voice. She completely believed that something had spooked me and was perfectly okay with being cautious.

Matt, on the other hand, looked annoyed that we had overreacted. Most people may feel embarrassed by their overreaction, but I just felt relieved. I clipped my wand back to my belt and tried to calm my body, but it just wasn't working. I couldn't understand what was making my instincts go ballistic.

In addition to everything else, Dumbledore's office smelled different. It smelled dirty, yet sweet at the same time, like someone who hadn't showered for a few days and tried to cover it up with perfume.

Dumbledore held up his hands and indicated everything was fine. "I apologize Marc. I should have warned you about this, but I didn't stop to think you would be affected."

Before Dumbledore could finish his train of thought a woman stepped into his study. She looked to be our age, in her early twenties. She had perfect strawberry blonde hair that fell in layers down to her shoulder blades. As soon as she stepped into the office everything made sense. I suddenly knew why my elven instincts were in overdrive.

The woman was a vampire. As soon as she saw me her lips curled up, showing perfectly white teeth with her K-9's being slightly longer and extremely sharp: they were her fangs. Her eyes, I missed their original color, had turned a blood red and she sprang at me without a moments hesitation.

My elven instincts kicked into high gear and I caught her charge right in my chest, and rolled with it so I wouldn't be pinned easily. There was no chance to reach for my wand, so I would have to rely on my elven instincts and strength to guide me through this hand-to-hand fight. Elves and vampires are natural enemies and this would only end when one of us was dead.

The problem was that I was only a half-elf; my strength was nowhere close to that of a fully-grown vampire. If I was going to win this fight, it would have to be through superior fighting skill and a hefty amount of luck, neither of which I had.

As soon as I disengaged from her first attack, she turned and struck at my torso. The blow was fast and before I could react her fist connected with my ribs in a blow that would shatter half of a human's ribcage. I just let out a huff and stumbled backward.

She pressed the attack, not allowing me a moment to collect myself. Her next blow was to the head, but slightly high. I was able to dodge her fist and receive only a glancing blow. Taking the advantage I moved in closer so she couldn't wind up for another punch.

While she was still slightly off balance I drove my right knee into her abdomen. The blow connected, but instead of doubling over like a human would she simply absorbed the blow, grabbed my leg with her remaining hand, and gained enough leverage to throw me across the room.

I landed on top of a desk that housed some of Dumbledore's odd gadgets. The desk gave way beneath me and crumbled inwards, spilling the gadgets onto me, one of which exploded but caused me no harm.

Dumbledore and my team stood paralyzed at either end of the room, as if they couldn't believe what was going on. It was probably happening faster then they could see anyway. I would have ordered my team into action, but the vampire was on top of me in a heartbeat and I needed all my focus to keep from being killed.

I was able to get leverage on her this time and throw her off before she could pin me. We were both up in a heartbeat and were exchanging blows so quickly no human eye could track each individual strike.

So far I was holding my own in this battle, which struck me as odd. I shouldn't have been able to absorb this much punishment from a vampire without being knocked out. I didn't have long to ponder this though because the woman launched a fresh wave of blows that kept me moving backwards throughout the office.

On one of her strikes she missed her mark and I was able to grab her wrist, pin it to her side, and move in closer to her. Another missed punch and I had a vice lock on both or her wrists and we were staring eye to eye with one another, barely a foot apart.

Her fangs snapped at me and she let out a low growl similar to that of a lion. Again my elven instincts took over and I let out a sharp hiss in response. My black eyes locked on to her red ones and we both strained to get a favorable position. Finally she was able to break my lock on one of her wrists and wasted no time in throwing a punch that connected square in the side of my head.

I saw spots for a second and that's all she needed to wretch her second arm free. Seeing no other option, I attempted to tackle her. Instead of me connecting, she grabbed my shoulder and tried to throw me. I countered her move and our momentum carried us to the window. I tried to throw her out, the exact same thing she was trying to do to me. We both shattered the glass and fell out of Dumbledore's fourth floor office.

In midair I attempted to right myself so I could land on my legs and continue the fight, but she was to fast. In an instant she had my body pinned so that I would land on my back with her on top of me. I closed my eyes and braced for impact. The ground shook as I connected with it and gave way. Pain lanced out from my back and all the air was pushed out of my lungs as the vampire landed with her knees in my chest.

When I opened my eyes I saw that I had created about a foot impression in the earth. I made to throw the vampire off before she could pin me, but I felt my magical energy slowly slip away. I was done. My eyes returned to their normal brown and I felt all my muscles involuntarily relax. I struggled to keep my eyes open, but weariness was washing over me.

I awoke in the hospital wing as the sun was setting. My body ached all over and I quickly found out it was painful just to sit up. This feeling was unnatural to me. I had been hit with the cruciatus curse a few times and felt had pain, but my body never received a beating like it had today, one wear the effects linger long afterward.

I scanned the room only to find that no one was around. Seeing as Madam Pomfrey wasn't here to stop me, I peeled the covers off the bed, stood up, and left. The castle was eerily quiet as the students and most staff had left for summer break.

I didn't have any uneasy feelings so I assumed the vampire was gone. I slowly made my way through the corridors, trying to stretch out my muscles as I moved. It worked a bit and by the time I reached the gargoyle some of my stiffness was gone. I knocked once on Dumbledore's door and heard him call for me to enter. He was seated behind his desk just as he was this afternoon before I had been attacked.

The sun had set as I made my way through the castle so all I could see of Dumbledore was what illuminated in the candlelight.

"Come in Marc," He said in his normal voice. "I have much to explain to you."

I moved forward and sat in a chair in front of his desk. The plush leather felt good and I felt myself relax.

"Is everyone okay?" I asked.

"Everyone is fine," Dumbledore reassured me. "I owe you and apology. You look and act so human that sometimes I forget that there is another side to you."

I nodded although I couldn't see where this was going.

"I never thought you would react the way you did," he continued. "Anke has been a contact of mine for sometime and when I asked for her aid here in England I should have foreseen a complication between you two."

"The vampires name is Anke?" I asked. It was pronounced ON-KAY.

"Yes, and strictly speaking she is half-vampire, a mixed species like yourself."

I couldn't believe it. There had never been such a thing as a half-elf until me, how could there ever be a half-vampire if they couldn't reproduce? Vampires survived by turning their victims, not by giving birth.

Dumbledore didn't leave me much time to think. "I will leave the details to her to explain. What you should know is that she was raised by her father, a vampire, and lived in the vampire world unlike you who was raised in the human wizarding world. She has never belonged in her father's world and several years ago she left Transylvania and has served as a contact to me, letting me know if Voldemort ever attempted to make his way into the vampire realm.

"With Pettigrew reuniting with Voldemort I no longer fear the vampires lending aid to him. When Voldemort rises they will inevitably swear allegiance to his cause, but there is little we can do to prevent that. I invited Anke here so she could lend her services to our cause."

I nodded. It now made sense why that fight had lasted as long as it did, Anke didn't have the full strength of a vampire, the same way I didn't have the full strength of an elf. Actually that meant that I lost a battle to a girl who was just as strong as me, and that didn't make me feel to great. I did tell myself that I had been trained as a wizard, while she was probably trained to fight hand-to-hand like a normal vampire, and that helped me justify my loss a bit.

"Can she be of help to us?" I asked. I trusted Dumbledore would never ask for assistance from someone who wasn't talented, yet I still had my reservations. If she couldn't use a wand she would be vulnerable to the Death Eaters.

"She can, and again I will let her show you her talents." Dumbledore's tone had a slight hint of firmness, as if he were making sure I knew he would never bring someone on who couldn't contribute positively.

"Also, I believe there is something we can do for her." I listened as Dumbledore continued. "She has never fit in with her people, yet she has lived with them because it was the only world she knew. When I told her of you she became excited. I believe she is looking for acceptance. I told her how you had fit in easily in the human wizarding world and I believe she is hoping she can do the same. She didn't mean to attack you; it was a reaction to her instincts, same as you.

"I ask that you accept her and treat her as if she were one of you. Remember how awkward you felt when you attended Salem, never really fitting in with the others? That is how she feels now."

I nodded again. "I trust you. If you say she can help us then we'll see what she can do. She's definitely strong enough, I can attest to that."

Dumbledore smiled. "It is always good for us to be reminded once in a while that we aren't invincible. It keeps us humble."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever. Can you tell me where she is now?"

"She is touring the village of Hogsmede with your team, getting to know them. I think you should join them."

I stood to go. As I was making my way to the door Dumbledore called out to me. "Marc, she is very attractive and looking forward a great deal to meeting you."

I could see where this conversation was going and wasn't to excited about it, but I decided to indulge him anyway. "What's your point?"

"I know you've never pursued a relationship with someone because of who you are. I don't blame you. It would be hard to watch your love grow old and die while you barely age at all, but this would be different. Anke is like you, a half-breed, and the only of her kind. Perhaps you'll find something special."

Dumbledore was always trying to get me to be happy, and I appreciated that, but his constant hounding about how life shouldn't be spent alone got a little old. "I appreciate the sentiment dad, but I'm the commander of an international team of expert combat wizards, and we're gearing up for the fight of our lives against the most dangerous dark wizard of all time. Right now my focus has to be completely on that. I'd be letting my team down if I weren't doing everything possible to ensure success. I have to look out for them before I can think about me."

I gave him a smile to show him I appreciated the sentiment and then turned to leave.

"Just keep an open mind," I heard him call after me as I made my way down the steps.

To be honest I wasn't quite sure what I was going to say as I made my way towards Hogsmeade. I mean, what do you say to someone who kicked your ass the first time you met, only to find out later she's been looking forward to meeting you? This was one of those moments that felt way to surreal to really be happening.

As I entered the village my elvish instincts flared again, but this time I found it easy to suppress because I knew what was causing them. It actually made finding Anke and my team pretty easy, the more in danger I felt, the closer I figured I was getting to them.

I found them in the Three Broomsticks. This had to have been Matt's idea, only he would think that a tour of the village should include and extensive view of the bar. Anke was seated with her back to me, but I saw her body tense as I walked through the door. Slowly, as if she were exerting a great deal of effort, she relaxed and turned around.

As I got my first good look at her I saw there was no way that she could pass for human. Like me, her facial features were much more prominent. There was very little roundness at all; her face was very angular with full lips and a smooth jawbone. It's a common misconception that all wood-elves and vampires are gorgeous, without any kind of physical flaws. In reality our body structure just highlights the features that most humans consider attractive, such as clearly defines facial features and a lean, fit body.

I recognized her strawberry blond hair, the only feature I had noticed during our first meeting. It looked perfect, as if she could walk through a hurricane and her hair would still fall perfectly into place when she came out. Her eyes were bold, like mine, but hers were a sharp yellow, like two miniature suns. Clearly the vampire trait of having red eyes had slightly carried over, and mixed with her original human eye color to create the yellow. Instead of making her look scary it just added to the striking intensity of her overall appearance. She was also slender, giving the illusion that she was just a helpless damsel, like every one of the princess' in fairytales. I could attest to the fact that she was anything but helpless; her frame hid the fact that she was strong enough to punch through a brick wall.

She was absolutely beautiful. There was no way I could deny that, at least no way the human in me could deny it. The elf part of me only saw her as a deadly enemy. It was odd, as if I could see her through two totally different sets of eyes. Having lived in the human world all my life and embracing that side of my genealogy more, I found it easy to suppress my elven instincts.

"Hey buddy!" Matt exclaimed. I realized that both Anke and myself had been starring at each other for a few seconds. "We were just sitting here waiting for you to show up. I want to see a rematch, I bet Kim twenty galleons that this time Anke here would knock you out for an entire day!"

Of course the first thing Matt would do was make fun of me. Not even an 'are you okay?' before he launched into his insults. You would think me getting beat up by a girl was the best thing that could have happened to him, and it very well could have been. I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. "Alright, lets get it all out of the way now," I said regretfully.

"Hey, it was an honest fight," Kim said with a smile. "I mean she totally dominated you and made you look like a punching bag, but at least she didn't hit you below the belt!"

Both Matt and Kim burst out laughing and I could feel my face flush a bit.

"Girl power," was all Aya had to say, but it was enough to renew Matt and Kim's laughter.

Matt moved to open his mouth once more but stopped when he saw my eyes flash black for a second. "You know," he said after considering the fact that he would be pushing his luck with any more insults at me, "I think we should go upstairs and get back to our work. You and Anke could probably use a little time alone to get to know one another."

Kim and Aya both got the hint that any more poking fun at me could result in hexes being thrown at them, so they quickly nodded and got up to follow Matt upstairs. I, however, knew Matt way to well and was waiting for him to get the last word in before he left, and he didn't disappoint me. "Don't worry Marc, we'll be right upstairs if you need our help!" He turned quickly after that and raced away before I could hit him with whatever jinx I could think of. I would have to get him back later on.

I turned to Anke, who was standing up looking extremely awkward and perhaps a bit embarrassed. She gave me a slow and hesitant smile, which I returned. "I'm Anke," she said while holding out her hand. "I'm really sorry about earlier, I've never met an elf before and had no idea my survival instincts would kick in like that."

"Its okay," I reassured her as I shook her hand. Her body was warm, which surprised me. It seems she didn't inherit the cold body of the vampires. Her grip was rock solid though; I could feel the vampire's indestructibility in her firm handshake. Had it been a human hand she was shaking, she could have broken all the bones.

"Besides, you've given my team a great reason to make fun of me, which is something they've been looking for."

"I hope your okay, I didn't hurt you too bad did I?" She wasn't attempting to make fun of me with that comment; she was just concerned for my well being.

"I'll be okay, you did a number on me but didn't give me any lasting injuries. I'll be good as new as soon as I can get my muscles fully stretched out."

"Oh good! I'm sure Dumbledore told you I've been pretty excited to meet you guys for a while now, and I can't believe that when I finally did I got into a fight with you." Even her voice was beautiful, incredibly feminine in pitch, yet she spoke in a high volume so that you could hear every word clearly. Bubbly was the best way I could describe her personality.

As soon as I assured her I was fine any trace of hesitancy was gone from her and she became very outgoing. We both sat down and seeing as I was in a bar, decided to order a beer. Anke declined to have anything so Madam Rosmerta just had to clear away Matt's empty bottles and grab me one. Anke and I just stared at each other, not quite sure where to begin. When I'm not in the company of my team or Dumbledore (people I would consider my close friends) I tend to be a bit more reserved. I'm not the outgoing, look-at-me type who revels in any kind of attention. That's Matt.

"So," Anke began. I guess she knew she'd have to be the one to get the conversation going, and I was grateful she was able to figure that out. "I know you have to have a ton of questions, please, ask me anything."

Well, she was right, and since she opened the door I figured I'd start off with the most blunt. "Do you drink blood?" By human social standards, that would probably be considered a blunt personal question, but Anke acted like that was the exact question she thought I'd ask.

"Yes," she replied and didn't seem embarrassed by it at all. "My body requires nutrients to sustain itself, just like yours does. The difference is that I can get those nutrients either by drinking blood or by eating human food. The draw back is that I have cravings for both. If I only eat food my thirst for blood goes unsated and I yearn for it, and vice versa. When I eat food I keep the human part of me healthy and when I drink blood the vampire part of me stays strong. I have to do both to satisfy both parts of me."

It made as much sense as anything, I guessed. Before I could ask the next obvious follow up question, she beat me to it. "I don't, however, drink human blood. When I lived in Transylvania with my father that's what I drank, but the human in me found it disgusting. Unlike the stories, animal blood does nothing for me, its completely useless. Instead I've found a few friends who work at an experimental synthetic blood bank. Technically, the blood is meant for humans, but I don't see it as actual blood that has come from a human. It may seem like a silly rationalization, but it's the only way I can drink blood without feeling disgusted by it."

I shrugged my shoulders. "It makes sense to me. You can't deny who you are so you have to find any way possible to survive."

She gave me a dazzling smile. "Its nice someone actually understands. I think I weirded out your friends when I told them. I guess its hard to think about if its not something that's natural to you."

"Yeah, I guess. To be honest all I care about is that none of my team will wake up in the middle of the night to find you draining them." I didn't mean that comment to be a joke, but Anke laughed anyway.

"I've lived as a vampire for the majority of my life and hated it. My father made me feel like I was a mistake and treated me horribly. I'm excited to leave that part of me behind and focus on being human now, I wouldn't spoil it by doing something stupid. I'm not like the stereotypical vampire, I have total self-control over my cravings."

"Well that's good to know." I liked the fact that she was very forthcoming about herself. I decided to change tacts and ask about something else. "So tell me how you even exist. I had heard that vampires were dead, or undead, or whatever. They can't actually reproduce, they sustain their population by turning humans."

Again Anke acted like she expected this question. I guess I wasn't being very creative. "Your right, contrary to some beliefs vampires can't just 'nibble' on a human. The bloodlust that is created when one bites a human causes them to drain the body dry. If, by some miracle the vampire only takes a few sips the human dies of venom poisoning shortly afterward.

"The only way for a vampire to turn a human is to leave only the tiniest amount of blood in the human, and then make the human drink vampire blood. The two bloods mix and a reaction occurs. If the human doesn't die of blood loss, he or she would begin to turn. The mixed blood then reacts with the venom already in the body from the original bite, and this all combines to form the basis for a new vampire. The process takes about twenty-four hours and is rather painful. Also the human must be magical. Muggles cannot be turned."

I actually knew all this, but she was on a roll so I didn't want to interrupt. "I was bitten when I was very young by a female, but the vampire only drained about two thirds of me before she was slain by a vampire hunter. I lay on the verge of death when my father showed up. His wife had been the one who had bitten me and he was enraged that she had been killed while in the middle of feeding. Doing that would be the equivalent of shooting a human while their back was turned."

I held up my hand and she stopped. I hated to interrupt but something she said didn't make sense. "You said your mother was killed by a vampire hunter? How is that possible, vampires are indestructible. The only way to kill them is by cutting or ripping off their head, and the only thing that can pierce vampire skin is their own venom. Wood Elves have coated their blades with vampire venom for ages so they could fight without having to use their brute strength to tear them limb from limb."

She nodded. "Your totally right, humans simply can't kill vampires, they're way to fast and strong. However this particular human hunter had somehow acquired an elvish blade and struck while my mother's attention was focused on feeding. Like I said, its like attacking someone while their back is turned."

"Gotcha. Sorry to interrupt, continue."

"Well my father killed the human easily enough, but was unsure what to do about me. I think he wanted to turn me to replace his wife, but no human has ever been turned after being bitten by two different vampires, the venom just doesn't mix, so he didn't want to drain the rest of me. Most in his situation would have just drank my remaining blood and been done with it, but my father had adored my mother and I think he saw a little of her in me.

"Anyway, he took a chance and allowed me to feed from him. Because there was more blood in my body, my transformation was incredibly painful and took almost three days, but finally I awoke. My father had been expecting a new vampire, perhaps one that would replace his late wife. The problem was there was just too much human blood left in me to make a complete transformation. What he ended up with was a half-breed, something that had never happened before. I guess this was cause for humiliation amongst his peers. He also was revolted that he had lost his wife and didn't get anything useful out of me. Had he belonged to a different lineage he may of just killed me and moved on.

"However, he was from the most noble order of vampires. He is a direct descendant of Drake, the first vampire. Dracula, possibly the most famous of vampires, was also of this line. This line of vampires was as close to royalty as they have. My fathers pride wouldn't let him kill me; there was no way a member of the house of Drake would ever create something so useless as a half-breed. Therefore he convinced himself and those around him that he had instead founded a new breed of vampire, and though I was useless, I should be marveled because only a member of the House of Drake could do such a thing."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. It was an unbelievable story. It also kind of put me to shame. My mother and father were in love and they had me, end of story. "So you and your father never got along, and you eventually left?"

"Yes," she said. "I stayed with my father for a very long time because it was the only life that I knew. Despite being disgusted by me, he did provide for me. Although the vampire in me keeps me from aging like a normal human, I slowly grew up and as I matured I became even more distant with my father. Eventually I got so fed up with him I left. I fled Transylvania and ended up making my way into Albania, where I met Dumbledore. He was searching for clues of Voldemort's whereabouts and he explained to me that I was human, and I could embrace that side if I wanted to. He told me of you and said that I could live a normal, human life and so I did. He asked me for my help, and said that if I could keep watch over the vampire lands for any sign of Voldemort he would be grateful. He also told me that eventually he would introduce me to you, and that you would show me how a half-breed can function in the human wizarding world."

No pressure, I thought to myself. I was honored that she thought she could learn from me, but to be honest I had no clue what to teach her. I was raised as a human; it was all that I knew. What was I supposed to teach her?

"I guess," I began, "that you can't think of yourself as a half-breed. Most people in the wizarding world are prejudice against half-breeds. It helps if you think of yourself as human. The only time I embrace my elvish side is when I need the extra physical power. I would suggest you just act as a human who drinks blood."

"See, that makes so much sense. Since I've been in the human world I've always thought of myself as a vampire, never as a human."

I rolled my eyes, I sort of thought that part was obvious but apparently not. I had one last question and I thought I'd better ask it before we got into a conversation about how to act human. "So what can you do? Dumbledore said you could help us in the fight against Voldemort. What powers do you have?"

"You mean besides the strength to beat up a half-elf?" This time she was poking fun at me when she made that comment. I could see a sparkle of mischief in her bright yellow eyes. For someone who was a bit nervous a little bit ago, she certainly felt comfortable around me now. "Well let's see. I'm magical, obviously, but I was bitten when I was eleven, just after completing my first year of school at Durmstrag. I didn't know much magic and didn't have a use for it while I lived with my father. While I stayed in on the borders of Transylvania I acquired a wand from a shop and started studying various spells through books. I know I'm different so I developed a different fighting strategy, one that is suited to killing vampires. Why don't you come outside and I'll show you?"

I figured this should be good. Although my body was still a little sore from our previous encounter, I knew there was no way she could beat me if I had a wand in my hand and kept my distance from her. We walked outside and stood in the middle of the street, just in front of the Three Broomsticks. Not too surprisingly I saw Matt stick his head out the window of our second floor room. He looked excited and I figured he was hoping I'd get my ass handed to me again.

Anke drew her wand and I did the same. I shook my head and cleared my thoughts. Although confident that I was going to win, the first thing I've learned over the years is to shake those thoughts when you enter battle. Even the best warriors can make mistakes and get beaten.

When Anke motioned to begin I threw two stunning spells at her in such rapid succession that they appeared as one big red ball of light. Any human could block the first spell, but the second would then be upon them before they would be able to react. I wasn't surprise that Anke, with her vampire reflexes, blocked them both. I didn't give her a chance to think though. Spells flashed from my wand as I sent hex after hex after jinx at her. Some she dodged while others she countered.

I was surprised that all she was doing was defending. She didn't send a single spell my way. Then I noticed that she was slowly making her way to me. Every time she moved to avoid a spell she'd take one step closer to me. I noticed this just in time because after the last stunner that she dodged she leapt right at me. This must be the strategy she was talking about. Use only defensive spells to block while she made her way close enough to her opponent that she could use her physical strength.

I dodged her and as she flew past me, turned and hit her point blank with a force spell. I toned down the power I put into the spell so I didn't blast her into oblivion. As it was the spell caught her in the chest and propelled her twenty feet backwards.

"I don't think so," I said grinning. "I learned my lesson last time. We do this fight at a distance." Anke just smiled and out of nowhere drew a wicked looking sword.

Ironically it was an elvish long sword, ornately decorated. I knew that the blade was coated in vampire venom and would slice through anything effortlessly. I launched a new wave of spells at her and she employed the same strategy. Block, block, dodge, block, and charge. Again I saw the move and avoided the rush.

I backed up a few feet and again renewed my attack. Dumbledore hadn't been lying; Anke was dead useful in a fight. She may not have the offensive spellwork that most wizards on Omega Team had, but that deadly sword of hers was all the offense she needed. Her wand just served as her shield, a means of blocking all attacks until she was in close enough to use her sword.

Our duel went on for ten minutes before I decided it was time to end it. At first her strategy had taken me by surprise and it was an even fight. Eventually I had found a pattern to her attacks and now was just toying with her, seeing exactly what she could do. As she came in for her charge this time I planted my feet and took the blow head on. She was surprised she connected with me and that was all the chance I needed.

I grabbed her sword hand to make sure she couldn't bring it up for a strike, and then hit her right in the chest with another force spell. This time I didn't hold anything back and the spell would have shattered a human ribcage. Her body held together but she was thrown back and hit a tree on the other side of the street. The tree snapped in half and fell across the street. It would have fallen right on me had I not been moving at the time.

Anke was surprised by the move and was dazed by the force of the spell. I used my elvish powers to vault across the street with superhuman speed. By the time Anke was making a move to get up, I was looming over her with my wand pointed at her chest.

"Your good," I said smiling, "Your very good. You'll definitely help us in this war."

Anke gave me a pouting look. I guessed this was the first battle she had ever lost. I extended my hand and helped her up. With a flick of her want she repaired the tree and then stood to look at me. "I want a rematch," she said in a voice that matched her pouting look. "I can do better."

I grinned cockily at her. "We're even now, lets just leave it at that."

She seemed to accept this. Her pouty look gave way to a smile. "You are good. I thought I had you a few times."

I rolled my eyes and started to make my way back into the Three Broomsticks. "I wouldn't be the leader of an international team of combat wizards if I wasn't the best." We walked in just in time to see Matt emptying his pockets of all the money he had, and Kim taking it from him with a huge smile on her face.

"Next time," Matt said, "I'm making sure it's understood that I bet on a physical fight between the two, not a magical one."

Kim just rolled her eyes. "You lost dumbass, now be gracious about it and maybe I'll buy you a beer."

I turned to Anke and gave her a sly smile. "Come on, let's go upstairs and I'll fill you in on our research. Before long Matt is going to try and get his money back by means of seduction and nobody wants to see that."

"I heard that!" Matt yelled.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Disaster!**

It seemed like no time had gone by when we heard of the disaster at the quidditch world cup. This time I refused to let the British Ministry stonewall us. Blue Team (which now included Anke, although she wasn't an official Omega), arrived on site the day after with orders from the ICW to allow us to help with the investigation.

The place was a mess. In all their hurry to get to the Death Eaters, the Ministry had blasted half the field apart. There were tons of Ministry officials there, trying to sort everything out, but I cared more about the area where the dark mark had been cast. I figured that the Death Eater rampage had been either a drunken prank or an isolated incident.

Voldemort wouldn't care much about the world cup and would not order his Death Eaters to attack in such an open fashion. The Dark Mark, however, was a different matter. It looked to me like someone who was openly declaring his or her loyalty to Voldemort. Not only that, but I also thought that it could have been a warning, as if someone were saying 'the dark lord will rise again.' I didn't tell my team this, but I was afraid that the shooting off of the dark mark could be a declaration of the return of Voldemort.

The five of us poked around the woods where Harry had said the spell was cast. There was nothing to find, which didn't surprise me. We would have been incredibly lucky had we found traces of dark magic or the like.

"So what now," Matt asked? He was kicking sticks and stones around in a halfhearted attempt to search for clues.

"Well," I replied, "lets go over what we know. Harry's wand was taken to cast the spell, so we know that there had to be a wizard in these woods who doesn't own a wand."

"Which means he or she is probably an outlaw," Anke piped up.

"Its a 'he.' Harry said it was a male voice that shouted the spell," Kim put in.

Matt stopped kicking things around long enough to speak. "And we know there was an elf here as well, but she says she didn't see anything."

"She's lying," Kim said, "but we won't be able to get her to tell us anything."

"Well it looks to me like it was a rouge Death Eater," Matt said. "Only explanation that fits. It would explain why he didn't have a wand and why he cast the dark mark. You think it was Pettigrew?"

I shook my head. "Doesn't fit. He wouldn't be brave enough to cast the dark mark all by himself. Besides, he wouldn't even be brave enough to come back to England by himself. No, I believe he's still with Voldemort. I think this is something altogether different."

Anke cocked her head to one side, thinking. "So just a random rouge Death Eater decides to cast the dark mark? I don't exactly buy it."

"I agree," I said. "I think we have to treat this as a worst case scenario and assume that Voldemort has found another supporter who is willing to help him rise again."

"So how do we proceed?" I could tell Matt was ready for action. He was getting bored with all the detective work we'd been doing for the past couple years. I couldn't blame him.

"I'm telling Jack to send a few members of Red Team to the old Riddle house. Dumbledore said that a muggle was mysteriously killed there the same night Harry woke up having his dream. We know Tom Riddle was Voldemort's father. Maybe Voldemort decided to use his dads old house for a while."

"You think we should all go then?" Matt asked. "I mean if Voldemort is there, wouldn't it be best to have us all go in force?"

I nodded. "Oh we're all going if he's there. I want Red Team to confirm that someone is actually at the house before we all go in with wands blazing. Two or three of us should be able to stay in the village a few days and keep an eye on the house. If it looks like someone is home, we'll all go and investigate."

Matt nodded. "Sounds good to me. What do we do in the meantime?"

I sighed. "We do what we've been doing. I want to follow up on the Bertha Jorkins disappearance. I'm convinced Voldemort found her and I want to know why. She knew something."

Nobody seemed to like the idea of going back to more research. We all apparated on the spot and headed back to Hogsmeade. Soon after we arrived Matt and Kim left for the ministry to inquire more about Bertha's disappearance. Aya had an appointment with both the Crabbe and Goyle families where she hoped to get a clue as to whether Voldemort had been in contact with any of his old Death Eaters. Aya was very tricky and could catch people in their own lies. Although we didn't have much hope, we all agreed it was worth a shot.

She planned on using the same cover story that she had a few years ago with the Malfoy's: that she was a reporter doing a piece on old and powerful wizarding families. Neither the Crabbe's nor the Goyle's could be considered powerful, but they jumped at the opportunity to be in an article nonetheless.

I was in the research room with Anke. She was pouring over a manuscript that mentioned some place that had connections with ancient dark arts. She was trying to figure out if it was a place Voldemort would have visited. I looked at our rows upon rows of presentation boards that had all our leads pinned up on them. I tried to draw parallels between them, but nothing seemed to fit. It was starting to make me crazy. I didn't even know what I was looking for anymore. Should we still be focused on finding the hiding places of Voldemort's Horcrux's or attempting to find Voldemort himself and stop him before he regains his body? I was tired of all this research. I let out a heavy sigh and sat down in a comfy chair so I could close my eyes for just a bit. After being at this for so long and not making any progress I was quickly becoming fed up.

"You need a break," Anke pointed out.

"Actually what I need is a job that doesn't require years of research and interviews. What I need is for a whole bunch of dark wizards to appear right outside so I can actually do what I excel at, killing them all."

Anke rolled her eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. We're going to have the fight of our lives soon. If anything you need to relax more now so you can be good and ready when your time to shine comes."

I kept my eyes closed and let my body fully relax into the chair. "Which is why," I replied to her, "I'm sitting back and closing my eyes right now. I'm relaxing."

Anke got up and crossed the room. My eyes were still closed but I could hear her coming closer to me. "Get your ass up. You have a pretty girl here who hasn't been taken out on a date in over twenty years. Lets get going."

Before I could do anything I felt her hands grab mine and forcibly pull me out of the chair. I wasn't exactly sure what was going on until she pushed me out of the research room and into my own. "Get changed and meet me downstairs in ten minutes."

I couldn't believe what was going on. I knew Anke was outgoing, but this seemed crazy. Who forces people to go on dates with them? Well, she is drop dead gorgeous, its not like this is a punishment I thought to myself. I changed out of my gym shorts I was wearing and put on a nice pair of dark wash blue jeans and a solid black short sleeve henley. It was a casual look, but it's about as dressed up as I ever got.

Wearing robes was more an English wizard thing, the American magical community tended to wear muggle clothes. My school uniforms at Salem was simply a nice pair of tan pants and a white oxford button down. I walked downstairs and found Anke was already waiting for me. She looked like she had stepped out of a fashion magazine. She had on form fitting jeans with a white v-neck shirt and a black jacket. Although simple, the outfit looked perfect on her.

"Wow," she said. "You look hot!" This surprised me. I was used to looking attractive to humans, but for someone like Anke, who was the picture of perfection, to say that took me a bit off guard.

"Speak for yourself," I replied. "So this is your idea, where we going?"

Anke shook her head like she was disappointed in me. "What a man you are. Don't you know you're supposed to have a plan? Its not the girls job to plan a date!"

Sure, like this whole thing wasn't her idea to begin with. "Alright, my plan for a date is heading back upstairs and resuming the job that we're supposed to be doing right now. If you're lucky I'll spring for some Chinese later on."

Anke sighed. "Your a lost cause, you know that?" She grabbed my hands and led me out the front of the bar. "Come on sexy, we're going to go walk the streets of London and figure out what we want to do."

Spending time with Anke was way too easy. We both felt completely comfortable with each other. Conversation flowed effortlessly between us, although she kept up the majority of it. I couldn't deny that we seemed to be perfectly matched, yet there was nothing romantic about the time we spent together. I definitely enjoyed being with her and I know she enjoyed being with me, but there was no pressure to push things at the same point. She seemed to understand my position that commanding my team and getting us through our upcoming trial was the most important thing to me. I think we both understood that we had a lot of time ahead of us and that there wasn't any need to rush into things that could wait.

Actually I came to this conclusion at the end of the night. Despite having been told countless times that I'm extremely attractive I didn't really believe that someone like Anke would actually be interested in me. However, the time we spent together that night convinced me she was totally attracted to me.

I was almost asleep when I got a patronus from Jack. I sat bolt upright in bed staring at the ghost-like silver image of a kangaroo and I felt all the warmth drain out of my body. No way a message this late in the night could contain any good news.

"I sent Irina and Jose to investigate village of Little Hangleton," the image spoke. "Both turned up dead about half an hour ago in the middle of town. Please respond."

Blood drained from my face. Irina and Jose had been sent to investigate the home of Voldemort's father and had been killed. I felt awful not only because I had lost two members but because all I could focus on at the moment was the fact that we had probably found Voldemort. I couldn't grieve for my lost friends now; I had to get to the Riddle house and wage war on Voldemort. I sent off a patronus to Jack telling him to meet me in Little Hangleton in five minutes, and then I ran out of the room and into the girls' room.

Matt had woken up in time to hear the last of the message and he was already getting out of bed and preparing. I didn't even knock as I burst into the girls' room. Thank god all they were in bed and not changing or something, otherwise I would have felt pretty embarrassed.

"We found Voldemort!" I cried. "This is it guys, we leave in five minutes, lets go!"

All three girls were out of their beds by the time I was out the door. I fired off another patronus to Joanna telling her to have Green Team meet up with us. This battle would probably take all of us. Matt was halfway dressed when I re-entered our room. I threw on black combat pants, a black t-shirt, and my combat boots. I then clipped my wand magically to my waist on my left hand side, so I could draw it quickly with my right hand.

Matt grabbed his gun belt (or would you call it a wand belt?) and fastened it around his waist. We both ran out into the hallway and met the girls coming out of their room in full combat attire. The unofficial combat uniform for Omega Team is black, which is what we were all wearing. It's not a dress code that was ever officially established, it was just what everyone wore when they went into battle. I think it's because the majority of our missions have always been at night, so we always wore dark clothing.

We all apparated on the spot and found ourselves in the town square of Little Hangleton. Jack and what remained of Red Team were already there standing in a dark corner. Then all looked very solemn and I couldn't blame them, they had after all just lost two members of their group.

I looked right in Jack's eyes. "Focus," I told him. "We grieve later. Too much is at stake right now." Jack nodded. He shook his head a few times and when he looked back at me I saw he had steeled himself. Archer and Tsi, the two other remaining members did the same.

Joanna appeared moments later with her team. Everyone double-checked to make sure his or her wands were clean and then signaled that they were ready to go. This would be a great time for one of those moving motivational speech made by the leader that gets a rise out of his team, but instead I just motioned forward and we all took off running toward the old Riddle house.

Anke and I easily outstripped everyone else so we were the first to arrive at the front gates. I took cover and waited for everyone else to catch up. The house was completely dark but that was deceiving, Voldemort could easily be hiding in there waiting for us. What would Voldemort even look like? Had he taken over Pettigrew's body like he had Quirrells? Was it just him in there or were we marching into a house dominated by Death Eaters, just waiting for a chance to pick a fight? I didn't like this, there were too many unknowns, but the opportunity was too great to pass up.

When everyone else caught up I outlined my plan. Red Team had the fewest members now, so they would stay at the front gates and be our rear guard. Jack gave me a hard look and I new he wanted to get in the fight, and I couldn't blame him for being upset over being left behind. There was nothing I could do about it though. Green Team would go in the back and slowly clear every room. I'd take Blue Team and head in the front.

We all looked at each other and nodded. All of us were thinking the same thing, would everyone be making it out alive? Would any of us make it our alive? Joanna took her team and led them around the house. Matt, Kim, Aya, and Anke all followed me up the front lawn. We lined up at the front door the same way we had when we stormed into Dumbledore's office.

I motioned Aya and she blew the door. Before the haze had even cleared I was through, scanning the dark room for signs of attack. The room was empty, so we quickly moved on to the next. Speed was our key here; we couldn't delay in any one room to look around. In the drawing room we ran into Green Team, who had finished clearing the back half of the house. The first floor was empty.

We all stayed together as we moved to the stairs. They were relatively wide so we were able to advance two abreast and provide a much wider field of cover. We slowed down here, taking the dusty stairs one at a time, never getting to far in front where we couldn't be covered. I was the one who eventually set foot on the second floor.

There was no movement, and the house was eerily quiet. The same feeling came over me as when we were in Albania looking for signs of Voldemort. I could almost feel his presence all around me. It was like there was a dementor near by, but instead of sucking all the happy feelings away it just chilled the air and made you feel scared.

We moved forward extremely cautiously now, as if Voldemort would leap out at us at any moment. When we got to the room at the end of the hall, every one of us knew that this was the one we were looking for, Voldemort's dark magic left traces all over the place. Matt and I burst into the room only to find it completely deserted.

"Nothing," Joanna said. "But he definitely was here."

"Oh yeah," Kim replied. "His dark magic leaves traces and it's all over this room, you don't even need to cast a detector spell, you can just feel it."

Matt nodded towards the corner of the room. "The fact that there is a pile of shed snake skin over there was my first clue." Sure enough in the corner of the room lay the remnants of snake skin.

Joanna looked around. "So he kills two of us and then just flees? It doesn't make any sense."

"No, it makes perfect sense," I said. "He's still not back to full strength, nor does he have his body back. He may be able to kill two of us when we're not looking, but no way he'd stick around knowing we'd show up in full force. He's probably long gone."

"So we just lost two of our people for nothing," Matt said. He didn't mean it to sound like he put blame it on me, but those words hit me hard.

I had just spent the lives of two of my men and got nothing out of it. Voldemort may have been here, but he wouldn't be coming back. The price was way to high for the information we received. What was worse was that Matt had said that all of us should go. Had I listened to him we things would be very different. We could have captured Voldemort and still have two surviving members.

Matt walked over and put his hand on my shoulder in an effort to comfort me. Apparently I was letting my emotions show. "Come on," he said. "There's nothing left here, let's go."

I let him lead me towards the door and then down the stairs. By the time all of us exited the front door I had regained my composure. One of the things I was learning about being a leader was that even if you made a mistake you couldn't let your team see it. I'm sure everyone knew that I felt horrible about the outcome of this mission, but I wouldn't let it show any more. I had to focus on the positive, we knew for sure that Voldemort was back in England, and that Harry had some sort of connection to him.

We all met up with Jack and Red Team at the front gates. He looked to me for answers but I just slowly shook my head. "Nothing in there, " I commented. "Voldy was definitely here at one point, but he's long gone now."

Jack slowly nodded. "Anything else useful in there?"

Wouldn't it have been nice if there were. "No," I replied aloud. "Nothing but some shed snake skin and remnants of dark magic that has been cast."

Everyone just kind of stood around, not sure what to do next. I needed time to think about where to proceed from here. Matt motioned to a building just down the road from the Riddle House. "I thought that was a bar over there when we came past it."

I nodded. "Yeah it was. Come on people, we have to go say goodbye to two of our members."

**AUTHORS NOTE:**Thank you to all who have read this story so far. I've been a member of this site for a few years, and publishing a story is something I've thought about doing for a while. I fully intend to finish this story (the majority of it is already outlined) but have had a hard time writing the upcoming chapters. The dialog especially has given me a hard time, so if I don't update as often please don't think I've abandoned it.

Also, for those wondering, Voldemort wasn't at the Riddle House because he was off recruiting Barty Crouch. Although Marc believes that Voldemort won't return to the Riddle House, he is mistaken. The reality is that the Team just misses him.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: The Rise of Lord Voldemort

Somehow word had leaked about the events in Little Hangleton. The next day a story ran in The Daily Prophet by Rita Skeeter about how we had lost two members and then broke into an abandon house. That's about as accurate as the story got. It went on to talk about how we held some kind of cult meeting where we honored the death of our members by drugging ourselves and performing dark rituals.

The majority of the article was crap, as is usual with any story written by Rita, but the ICW got hold of it and wanted an explanation at to what exactly had happened. Needless to say they weren't thrilled and immediately recalled all of Omega Team to Geneva. I was given a pretty good tongue lashing about the necessity of the team and how we shouldn't be chasing ghosts. It pissed me off that during the meeting with the senior members not a one expressed any sorrow or sympathy over the loss of Irina and Jose.

We were officially taken off of the quidditch world cup case (not that there was anything to that anyway) and reassigned to Brazil to investigate certain activities there. Dumbledore urged the ICW to let one of our teams stay behind but they wouldn't hear of it. I supposed they wanted to keep us as far away from Dumbledore as possible for the time being.

The one good part was that Anke had never officially been sworn in as an Omega; therefore the ICW had absolutely no control over her. While we all made ready to ship out to Brazil, I sent her back to England to work with Dumbledore. Realistically there was little she would be able to do there on her own, but at least she was where the real danger was, and could get word to us if anything happened.

"What the fuck man," Matt cried as we arrived at our destination deep within the heart of the Amazon. "We must have really pissed off the ICW."

In front of us was a small clearing with about five or six mud huts. This was our lodging for the duration of the mission. Matt was right, we definitely pissed off the ICW.

"Alright everyone divide up and pick a hut," I said. "Supposedly we're in hostile territory so we can't use magic to improve our situation on the off chance it's detected."

Kim looked around the dense foliage that surrounded us on all sides. "What exactly are we doing here again?"

"Well officially the ICW has gotten reports of strange things going on around here so we're supposed to investigate," I told everyone. "The truth is that they are probably pissed off that we've been chasing after Voldemort for the past three years and they had no idea. So now here we are, as far away from Dumbledore, England, and Voldemort as possible."

"So what are we going to do?" Matt asked.

"We're going to look around and make sure there isn't anything out here. Whether we like this assignment or not the reports are genuine. After that we lay low 'til this blows over and the ICW is in a forgiving mood and then we go back to Geneva and figure out another way to fool them so we can look for Voldemort."

Matt smiled. "Okay, I like that plan. Lets finish this quickly then."

I looked over to Jack. "Your in charge of keeping us in contact with Anke and Dumbledore. Be careful, the ICW will be expecting us to keep up with them so you'll have to get creative, but I want daily reports of what's going on back there." I paused for a minute to collect my thoughts. It had occurred to me that not everyone may have understood what was going to be happening so it would be best to put it right out on the table. "You all understand that our loyalty is to Dumbledore and our first mission is combating Voldemort, correct?"

Everyone nodded his or her heads in agreement, which was good. I continued, "So you all understand that the instant something happens on that front we're out of here and back in England right?"

Again everyone nodded. "What's your point Marc?" Matt asked.

"I just want to make sure we're all on the same page," I replied. "We could be stripped of our status by the ICW so I just need to know that everyone is okay with it. We all signed up to fight dark wizards, but it looks like the majority of the world won't acknowledge Voldemort's existence. We could be fighting a war that no one believes in. That will make things tricky and if you guys don't want to do it, I just need to know now."

Nobody said anything for a while, and then Aya, of all people, spoke up. "We're with you, Marc. We know that Voldemort is still out there, and we know the power and destruction that he's capable of. Being fired from our jobs seems a small price to pay in order to combat him."

I smiled. I couldn't have done a better job in picking the right people for Omega. "Well as long as we're all clear. Jack, make sure communications are up then. Like I said, the second something happens over there we'll be on our way. For now lets just all get settled in to our fabulous five star accommodations."

We spent a total of five weeks in the hot, wet, and sticky Amazon. After only one day of searching we stumbled upon an old tomb of some ancient dark wizard, which was emitting some kind of dark energy, causing all the animals around to go berserk. We took care of it easily and then found that the cause was a twelve year old boy who was playing with his fathers wand and had created the whole mess. The entire mission was a waste of our time.

Once we figured out that there was nothing dangerous going on we used magic to significantly improved the conditions of our huts and we were much more comfortable. We then spent the rest of our time relaxing and treating our mission more like a forced vacation. Although we all wanted to be back in England we realized that it would be best to just lay low and pretend like there really was a major crisis going on in Brazil.

Looking back on that time in Brazil, it really did us all a lot of good. No one would ever admit that they needed time away, but after working on nothing but Voldemort related stuff for the past couple years everyone needed some time to rest and recharge. Matt, Jack, and I had a blast laying out on beach chairs along the Amazon River drinking fruity cocktail drinks with little umbrellas in them.

Everyone loved the fact that through magic we were able to convince a jungle leopard that we weren't dangerous, and the animal spent the rest of the time in our camp enjoying free food, tons of attention, and a warm comfortable place to sleep every night (he rotated sleeping in everyone's hut).

I was actually waiting to hear word about the Triwizard Tournament. The champions weren't due to be picked for another few weeks, but Anke and I had made a bet concerning which school would win. I showed preference for Dumbledore and Hogwarts while she sided with the school she once attended: Durmstrang (even if it was only for a year).

With all the excitement that had happened over the summer I was beginning to get nervous because nothing else had happened lately. I poured over the Daily Prophet day after day expecting some news hinting that Voldemort was on the move, but nothing.

We returned to Geneva in mid October. The ICW was in a much better mood when we got back. We had fed them some bogus story about how we had to overcome powerful forces in Brazil and had just barely been victorious which they just ate up. We were hailed as heroes and at my request, were given a long overdue vacation.

Of course we had spent the past few weeks relaxing so the last thing we needed was another vacation, but it gave us an excuse to return to England and pick up where we left off in looking for Voldemort, even if it was only for two weeks before our missions resumed. Also, in a rare moment of brilliance on my part, I convinced the ICW that my permanent address was now the flat I owned in London, and therefore all missions should be coordinated through there.

I'm sure they saw the reasons behind this, but they allowed it nonetheless. In essence that meant that whenever there wasn't a mission going on, I could return to England and spend my time there with my team while awaiting new orders. I still couldn't devote my entire time to investigating Voldemort as the ICW would catch on, but I did make sure that there was always one team free that could go to England at a moments notice in case something happened. Otherwise my new routine was to spend one week on any given mission, then spend one week in London doing Voldemort investigations while waiting for a new mission.

I heard about Harry's election as a fourth school champion, and shared Dumbledore's nervousness. Obviously this had been fixed somehow and that meant it was part of a larger plan, but neither Dumbledore nor I could figure out what that plan might be. I felt relieved that Moody was teaching this year as he could keep an eye on Harry and make sure the boy was as safe as possible. I breathed a bit easier when Dumbledore told me that Harry had gotten past he first task with little difficulty. Although I doubted that whoever was responsible for putting Harry's name in the cup actually wanted to see him killed during the tasks (I mean, it wasn't a big possibility with all the precautions being put in place to ensure the champions well being) I was thinking that they would be a prime way of getting him alone and unprotected.

"Come on Marc, one more dance, please?" Anke tried to put on her puppy dog pleading eyes, but I was having none of it.

"Not a chance," I replied.

Despite the loss of three members, two of them within the last six months, it was tradition to hold the annual Christmas party. Once again we all congregated in the rented out Three Broomsticks to enjoy each other's company and blow off steam. Coincidentally this year our party was on Christmas Eve, the night before the Yule Ball at Hogwarts, and because of this I had to keep a close eye on Matt and Jack, both of whom were trying to sneak out and go crash the castle in order to stir up some fun with all the students. This was becoming harder and harder as the night wore on and they got more and more inebriated.

Anke frowned at me. We had been dancing on and off for the entire night, and this hadn't gone unnoticed by everyone else. The one thing that I had told myself wouldn't happen was slowing coming to fruition. Despite how much I tried to tell myself otherwise, I knew Anke had a huge crush on me, and I definitely had feelings for her. Yet no matter how interested in each other we were, I would not let it affect the way I ran my team. Anke was making this policy of mine harder and harder, mainly because she refused to let me push her away.

In addition nobody on the team quite knew what to make of our unusual relationship. Matt, in his ongoing quest to annoy me and make my life complicated, announced that we were secretly dating. Thank God that Kim had some sort of control over Matt and she whacked him upside the head and told everyone that it wasn't true.

Things like us dancing on and off the entire night didn't help convince the team that nothing was going on. When we first arrived back in England after our Brazilian exile (as I coined it) she threw herself on me, giving me a huge hug and telling me how much she missed me. I felt the same way, but wasn't really looking for such an over-the-top expression.

I moved over to the bar where Matt and Jack had their heads together, no doubt planning a way to slip out and head over to the castle. Part of me actually wanted to go too but it totally wasn't appropriate. I actually wanted to go so I could finally meet Harry. After all these years of working to protect him I was looking forward to finally introducing myself to him.

I ordered a Budweiser and turned toward Matt and Jack. "Give it a rest guys," I spoke up, breaking their huddle. "I will not let you go up to the castle and make idiots out of yourselves in front of all the kids."

"Why not Marc?" Matt asked in a very whinny voice. "It would be fun!"

I shook my head in exasperation. "Because the majority of the world actually views us as a professional elite commando unit, with an emphasis on the word 'professional'. The last thing I need is for us to be seen as a bunch of rowdy kids who party to hard."

Jack raised his eyebrows. "People would understand though. It's a work hard, play hard mentality. I mean Matt and I don't want to make asses out of ourselves, we just want to hang out with the kids. Think of it as a PR campaign."

"No," was all I said. It was a good thing I said so too, because right at that moment Rita Skeeter was canvassing the grounds looking for juicy info. She'd eventually get her big break during the Yule Ball when she'd break the story about Hagrid being a half-giant. The only thing that would make her story better was if she got footage of us hanging out with the students the night before. It was actually hard to imagine what crazy story she would spin, but somehow I had a feeling it would either cast Dumbledore or us in a bad light, or possibly both of us.

Kim came up and grabbed Matt from behind. "Don't worry Marc, I'll make sure he doesn't leave my sight."

"Good, I really don't feel like having to chase him all over the place tonight."

She sat down on Matt's lap and looked directly at me. "So is it true?" She asked. "Are you and Anke really spending Christmas together?"

I sighed. Apparently nobody wanted to talk about anything except Anke and myself. "Don't read too much into it," I replied after a few seconds. "Neither of us has anyplace to go for Christmas, so yes we'll be together, but not like 'together' together."

"Right," Jack said, dragging out the 'i' making it sound like Riiiiiight.

As much as I tried to hide it, a slow grin spread across my face. I didn't find this topic amusing, it's just a reaction I have sometimes when people give me a hard time. "Seriously, I've spent the last three Christmas' alone because I have no other place to go. This year I just happen to have someone with the exact same situation. Its not like I'm taking her out to a candle light dinner or something."

"Why not?" Kim asked. "That would be really sweet and romantic." She turned her head to Matt. "Wouldn't that be a really romantic thing for a guy to do for his girl?"

Matt pretended to think hard about it for a moment. "Eh, I think it's overrated."

Kim punched Matt before turning back to me. "So did you get her a present?"

"No, why would I?"

Matt laughed at me and Jack quickly joined in. "Dude," Matt began, "even I know that you need to get her something. It's just expected."

"Besides," Kim added, "I know for a fact that she got you something."

Why was this becoming such a big deal? We had originally said that we wouldn't be giving any presents to each other when we began this tradition. Matt and Kim broke that rule by giving me Christmas presents, so I started getting them some as well. Soon it became an unofficial custom to exchange presents within each team. Now I had to include Anke in that equation as well. It wasn't that I was being cheap or anything; I just never knew what to get people as presents. I mean, how could anything be appropriate for people who were continuously willing to sacrifice everything in the name of peace and prosperity?

"Well what would you suggest that I get her?" I asked Kim.

"I'm not allowed to help you, I already helped her pick out your gift. Everyone knows its illegal for the same person to help in the picking out of gifts for both people. You'll have to ask one of these two." She motioned to both Matt and Jack.

"Yeah right," I said mockingly. "Like I'd trust either of them to help me pick out a gift." I stood up from the bar. "Well if I actually do have to go buy something I should probably get to it, Christmas is tomorrow and I don't even know where to start."

"Um Marc," Jack spoke up, "Most everything is closed right now."

I raised my eyebrows at the three of them. "Don't you worry, I'll find a way to get what I need."

I ended up getting Anke gift certificates to premier clothing stores in London. My thinking was that she was trying to be more human, so a shopping binge to get designer clothes would be just the thing. She ended up loving it and took Kim out the very next day. Yes, I may have had to use a little magic to get into the stores so late at night, but I left more than enough money in the tills so I saw it as fair.

She got me two things. One was a book about martial arts and hand-to-hand fighting, which I immediately laughed at. I told her that if I had to read it then she had to read one of my books on offensive curses and hexes. Her actual gift was the complete series of the TV show 'Firefly' along with the movie 'Serenity.' Both of us had watched an episode once and I had remarked on how much I enjoyed it. We stayed up late on Christmas watching the first few discs and eating all the Chocolate that we had gotten.

There was nothing that happened between the two of us that could be constituted as romantic, yet we spent the entire day together perfectly at ease and enjoying each other's company. It was a nice change of pace to have someone around instead of just having the flat to myself. And no, there was no candlelight dinner.

The next day Blue Team shipped out to Sri Lanka to arrest a fugitive who had crossed continents in an effort to elude Aurors. The guy was actually pretty good at eluding authorities and it took us a while to finally capture him. Once the job was complete we didn't have time to return to London before we were assigned another mission. By the time I actually did get back to London it was just in time for the second task.

Nobody knew that I patrolled the dark waters just in case someone tried to get to Harry. Dumbledore cast a bubble head charm on me and I spent the entire event carefully following Harry. Both Dumbledore and I agreed that the second task was the best opportunity to get to him, as he would be alone and out of sight for the entire task. In the end it was unnecessary because Harry emerged from the task unharmed.

I didn't spend too much more time in England after that, as we were kept busy. I wondered if it was a coincidence that suddenly all these missions were coming up at the same time that Voldemort was gaining power, as if he were purposefully keeping us away from England. I doubted that was actually the case, even Voldemort wasn't that powerful yet, but it was a thought that wouldn't quite leave me alone.

Blue Team was in Siberia when Dumbledore's patronus reached us the night of the third task. All it said was Harry had disappeared from the maze. We immediately dropped what we were doing and went to England. We were to far to apparate directly there, but one of the bonuses of working for the ICW is that they have waypoints positioned all around the globe. After apparating to three separate waypoints we were finally close enough to make it to Hogwarts.

Red Team had been in London when everything happened and they had beaten us to Hogwarts. As soon as we arrived I went strait to Jack who was standing just outside the entrance to the maze. "Report," was all I said to him.

"Nothing seemed strange," Jack began. "Harry and the other champions made their way through the maze. Red sparks, that's the champion's call for help, went up once and we found a stunned Victor Krum laying in one of the passages. He appeared to have been under the imperious curse for a while.

"Once Harry got to the middle of the maze both he and Cedric Diggory grabbed the cup together and then they were gone. Everyone in the stands thought it was part of the challenge, but the look on Dumbledore's face told me it wasn't."

"What do you mean they disappeared?" I pressed.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "One second they were there, then they were gone. My guess is the cup was a portkey, but I couldn't say for sure."

Dumbledore came out from the maze just then and he did not look good. His face had gone all white and his entire body was slumped. It was the look of a man who had no idea what to do.

"Did you find anything?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "They are gone, and could be anywhere. Whoever did this knew what they were doing; there isn't a trace of magic to follow. They could literally be halfway around the world by now."

Dumbledore may have been in a slight state of shock, but I wasn't. "Okay then, lets start at the beginning. Find anyone who had contact with the cup and could have placed a spell on it." I didn't like stepping over Dumbledore to take charge, but someone had to.

Before anyone could move there was a flash of light and Harry reappeared right in front of us with Cedric. The boy was shaken and I knew right away what had happened, I didn't even need to hear him mutter 'he's back.' I moved toward the boys when I noticed that Cedric wasn't moving at all, not even his chest rising and falling.

"Get everyone back," I said to my team.

"What, why?" Matt asked. He was trying to push past me to get to the kids and help out.

I grabbed him by the arm and looked him strait in the eye. "Keep everyone in the stands, don't let any of them near here." I was about to elaborate when someone shouted the Cedric was dead. Realization flashed across Matt's eyes and he moved off with everyone else to barricade the entrance to the pitch.

"Dumbledore..." I began to say but he was already nodding. We both bent over Harry but he was in such a state of shock that I'm not sure if he even noticed me. He kept muttering about how it was entirely his fault.

As much as I hated to do it both Dumbledore and I left Harry's side for a moment. Dumbledore went to confront Fudge and Amos Diggory while I went over to help my team keep onlookers off the field. It wasn't easy at all, as soon as someone had announced that Cedric was dead the crowd began turning riotous. Before long we would have to start using our wands to keep everyone in the stands and off the field.

I felt a pull on my leg and when I looked down saw a house-elf staring up at me with big round eyes. It was one of the Hogwarts elves.

"Master, Dobby overheard you say you wanted to know about the Triwizard cup, sir." The elf said. "Dobby knows who took the cup to the field this evening sir. It was Mr. Moody, he volunteered to take the cup down right before the tournament started, sir."

I looked at the elf very carefully. "You are sure about this?"

"Oh yes sir, Dobby was cleaning the entrance hall when Mr. Moody walks out."

I turned to look for Harry and noticed that he wasn't where I had left him. As I looked around I couldn't find Moody anywhere either. Suddenly I felt a very cold feeling in my stomach. I grabbed Matt and pulled him with me over to Dumbledore.

"Where is Moody?" I asked Dumbledore.

"I left him with Harry, why?" He asked me.

"Moody was the last one to touch the Triwizard cup, and now I can't find him or Harry."

Realization flashed across Dumbledore's eyes. Without another word he started making his way to the castle, calling both McGonagall and Snape to come with him. I returned with Matt to the rest of my team, including Anke who had just arrived from London.

"Stay here and do your best to keep order," I told everyone. "Nobody gets onto this field, understand?"

Everyone nodded. I motioned for Matt and we took off toward the castle. For such an old man Dumbledore moved pretty fast, there was no trace of him in the entrance hall when we got there. Thinking quickly Matt and I made our way to Moody's office, the only place we could think of to go.

We got there just in time to see Dumbledore stun Moody. He looked over at us and started issuing orders to everyone. Snape left to go get veritaserum, McGonagall went to find Sirius, and Matt and I were asked to wait in Dumbledore's office and explain what we knew to Sirius when he got there.

I was a little pissed at being sent away, but I knew Dumbledore was acting in Harry's best interest. At this point the fewer people around, the better for Harry so I didn't say anything. We made our way throughout the dark corridors and up the stone staircase into Dumbledore's office. Minerva showed up a few moments later with Sirius in his animangus form, nodded to us, and then left.

Sirius transformed as soon as she was gone and looked at us. "What happened?" He asked firmly, as if he thought we had something to do with it.

"We don't know," Matt began. "We think the cup was a portkey and it took Harry and Cedric somewhere. When they got back Cedric was dead and all Harry could say was 'he's back' and 'it's my fault.'"

"We found out Moody was the one who put the spell on the cup," I continued. "And when none of us were looking he took Harry away from the field. Dumbledore got to them just in time and now he's interrogating Moody with vertaserum."

"Is Harry okay?" I admired Sirius. All he cared about was the well being of his godson.

"I honestly don't know," I answered. "He's pretty shaken up and he looks to be injured. We'll know more soon, I think Dumbledore was planning on bringing him up here once they're done with Moody."

We sat around in silence for a while, just waiting for more news. I checked out the window and saw that most of the crowd by the quidditch pitch had dispersed. Either someone had ordered them to go home, or they were all inside the castle now, trying to find out what happened. I figured they had just gone home.

After what seemed like hours Dumbledore finally walked in, leading a very weary Harry. I could tell that whatever happened with Moody had shaken him somewhat, but now wasn't the time to press him for details. Harry sat down in a chair and at Dumbledore's urging, began to tell his tale. Again Harry seemed so shell-shocked that I don't even think he noticed Matt and I standing off in the corner.

As Harry recalled the events I slowly shuddered. True I had assumed from the minute Harry returned that Voldemort had risen, but to hear him say it first hand still sent shockwaves through me. No one said anything, but we all knew that things were about to be turned up to a whole new level.

When the story was concluded Dumbledore ushered Harry to the hospital wing with Sirius in pursuit. Before he left Dumbledore gave me orders to get all of Omega Team to the Three Broomsticks where we would decide what to do next. I sent a patronus to Joanna, who was somewhere in Panama at the moment, telling her to get back here. I then told Matt to get everyone to the bar and brief them on what we had heard.

I went to Barty Crouch, formerly Alistor Moody, and kept watch. Dumbledore gave me strict orders not to let anyone near him until more questioning could be done. Crouch was asleep by the time I got there, with Minerva McGonagall watching over him. The both of us just sat there and stared off into space, waiting for further instructions from Dumbledore. When I heard footsteps coming up the hall I assumed it was Dumbledore, but instead it was the Minister, Cornelius Fudge.

McGonagall went pale when she noticed the dementor with him, but I had enough elf in me to not be totally affected. Dementors are the vilest creatures around, but they don't affect the complex mind of elves nearly as well as they do humans. My eyes turned black as I used a bit of my raw magic to keep from being effected even a little bit. I moved into the doorway, blocking Fudge from entering the room.

"Minister," I said when he was standing in front of me. "I'm sorry but Dumbledore gave me strict orders not to let anyone in until he got back."

If Fudge was surprised by these remarks, he didn't show it. "Young man, I am the Minister of Magic, I order you to stand aside and let me confront this man!" He tried to sound forceful but he lacked the strong voice in order to do so. Instead it sounded like he was whining to be let in.

"I'm the commander of Omega Team, and I am guarding an international fugitive. Under the articles of apprehension of multi-national fugitives I claim him as my prisoner and supersede your authority." I had no idea if Crouch was an international fugitive or not, but I had to think of something to say to get Fudge to go away. "If you don't like it, take it up with the International Confederation of Wizards tomorrow."

Fudges face went red with anger. "Move out of the way now and let me interrogate this suspect. All I wish is to question him about the events that have happened tonight."

I wasn't fooled for a minute. Fudge wanted Crouch in his custody. "I'm afraid tonight's events are already under investigation. Dumbledore, acting as a representative of the ICW, had assigned Omega Team to investigate for the time being. Seeing as it is his school, I suggest you take it up with him."

Fudge's face went slowly from red to purple with anger, yet I'm sure he knew there was no way he could force his way past me and into the room. Without another word (or a polite goodbye I might add) he turned and stormed down the hallway with the dementor following suit. Minerva let out a sigh of relief, although I'm not sure if it was because the incident was over or because the dementor was gone.

I turned to her. "I'm going to go find Dumbledore and let him know Fudge is poking around, don't let anyone in here without Dumbledore's express orders."

She nodded. I'm not entirely sure she liked taking orders from me, but she seemed to understand the situation and let it pass. I turned and left the room, heading in the opposite way of Fudge. I wish I had stayed behind, because soon after I left Fudge returned with an official decree from the Ministry of Magic, authorizing the use of force if necessary in order to interrogate Barty Crouch. Minerva backed down, partly because he judgment was slightly impaired by the dementor that was subtly affecting her.

When I found Dumbledore he was thankful for the information and resolved to deal with Fudge as soon as he could. Instead of me going back up to guard Barty Crouch, he told me to join the rest of my team in the Three Broomsticks where we would welcome the first arriving members of the Order of the Phoenix and brief them.

I was never present in the hospital wing when Crouch came roaring in to confront Dumbledore after having his dementor suck out the soul of Barty Crouch. I wish I was there, but it probably was for the better. I have a tendency to have a short fuse when dealing with irrational people, and Fudge's denial of the return of Voldemort, despite all the evidence presented to him, probably would have resulted in me doing something stupid, like punching him.

The sun was rising by the time the first people, soon to be members of Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix, arrived at the Three Broomsticks. Dumbledore came just after 7:00 looking utterly exhausted. I doubted if he had gotten any sleep at all. While Harry Potter slept under the effects of a dreamless sleep potion, events were taking place that would forever change the wizarding world.

Lord Voldemort, after calming down over his anger at Harry's escape, met with all his Death Eaters. He was intent upon recovering the lost prophecy that he believed would foretell the way for him to defeat Harry Potter. Among the people present was Severus Snape.

Cornelius Fudge had returned to the Ministry where he called his cabinet into a meeting. There they all assured themselves that there was no possible way that Lord Voldemort could have returned. Surrounded by his most faithful political allies, Fudge convinced himself that Dumbledore had finally decided he wanted the Minister of Magic job, and this was his bid for power.

In the Three Broomsticks a ragtag collection of people met to discuss the plan for combating Voldemort. Among these people were a crazed ex-auror, a fugitive unregistered animangus, a petty lowlife thief, a mother and father of seven, a werewolf, and a squib. Not the most qualified people to combat the most feared dark wizard of all time. People like Kingsley, Tonks, and Sturgis wouldn't come along until later. The first official meeting of the Order of the Phoenix seemed completely unremarkable.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Recalling the Order

The mood inside the Three Broomsticks was grave. Everyone seemed scared beyond belief. Us Omega's were all gathered around two tables that had been pushed together, murmuring in low voices about the actions we would take. Dumbledore and I had agreed that we would be separate from the Order. They all had their jobs that they would be doing, but our job would be to continue to research the leads on Voldemort that we had spent the last few years gathering. Dumbledore was convinced that the only way to defeat Voldemort was to know as much about him as possible.

Of course we would also be the first line of defense for the Order as well. We would start by doing the obvious, following around the known Death Eaters. Lucious Malfoy ranked number one on that list because he was the most well connected inside the ministry and could subtly pass legislation or resolutions that would help Voldemort in one way or another. For example, although it was barely shot down, the half-breed registration act that a one Dolores Umbridge introduced would have caused huge amounts of discontent among half-breeds and could possibly lead many of them to fight with Voldemort against the ministry.

I wasn't blind to the fact that Fudge and the ministry would begin to keep a very close eye on Dumbledore. I pleaded with Dumbledore to allow anyone on my team to take the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts, because I knew if no teacher could be found then Fudge would be quick to place one of his lackeys there. Dumbledore rejected my offer, citing two reasons why he thought it wasn't a good idea. The first was that all Omegas would be needed in the field, and that he believed Hogwarts to be secure from Voldemort. His second reason was that any appointee made by Fudge would give Dumbledore an insight into the actions of the ministry.

As he put it, someone sent to spy on Dumbledore could be tricked into giving sensitive ministry information if handled the right way. I didn't know it at the time, but this happened quite a bit when Umbridge was appointed the vacant teaching position. In an effort to show her dominance, Umbridge would often reveal too much information about ministry plans, which Dumbledore could then prepare for and react to. Umbridge may have been a huge thorn in the side of Dumbledore and the rest of the school, but she did have her uses.

While the first Order meeting was long and somewhat redundant, by the time we ended everyone was completely committed to the cause. I immediately dispatched Jack and the rest of Red Team to Number 4 in an effort to head off any potential Death Eaters who were looking to ambush Harry as he came home from school. Within hours Jack sent a patronus reporting that they had skirmished with Death Eaters, but they had disapparated before anyone could fully engage in duels.

I sent a message back to Jack telling him to take up residence with Arabella Figg and to continue to keep an eye out until Harry arrived safely from school. The Order would take up the guard once Harry was home and Jack would then start to shadow many of the people that Harry had named as being present at the cemetery.

Joanna and her team traveled back to the old Riddle House in an attempt to find any evidence or information that may have been left behind. Dumbledore and I doubted that there would be anything of value left, but it was still a good idea to check. Perhaps some evidence of the dark ritual that Voldemort used to become human again could be found. Before she left I told Joanna to find a motel first and get some sleep before doing any kind of investigating. I also reminded her what had happened last time some of us were sent to investigate the Riddle House and implored her to be careful.

The rest of us traveled to Grimmauld Place so we could cast various spells needed to ensure its secrecy. Immediately Dumbledore cast the fidelius charm and made himself secret-keeper. This would be our primary defense against anyone attempting to find our base of operations. Matt and Kim combined their powers and made the place unplottable as well. Other defensive charms were placed on the location, as well, and soon we were satisfied that all possible measures were taken to ensure its safety.

While everyone else returned home after Grimmauld place was fortified, Blue Team stayed with Sirius for the time being. Nobody wanted to admit it, but we had little idea about how to proceed and were dead tired from being up all night. Voldemort hadn't even returned for 24 hours yet, so there would have to be a bit of waiting at the moment.

Even though in was noon, everyone was exhausted (perhaps because no one had slept at all the previous night and had been awake for almost 36 strait hours) so we all collapsed wherever we could find a comfortable place and quickly fell asleep. I was unlucky enough to not get claim to one of the beds so I ended up on the sofa in the parlor. It was very dusty and probably a little moldy, but at the time it felt like it may as well have been fit for a king and I was quickly fast asleep.

It felt like I had just drifted off when my eyes flashed open. I had a strange feeling I was being watched and sure enough, two round eyes were looking directly at me, no more than two feet away. They belonged to one of the oldest and most frail looking house-elves I think I'd ever seen. If this had happened to anyone else I know they would have jumped in fright, instead I just sat up and looked directly back at the elf.

"Your with my mistresses' son and his filthy traitorous friends," he spoke to me. I vaguely remember Sirius telling me that his parents had been big believers in the pure blood way of thinking. No doubt their house-elf had fallen victim to that kind of indoctrination. Sad really, that people really believed that the quality of a man is solely based upon his blood-status in the wizarding community. Reminded me of the old race tensions in America when I was growing up.

"I'm a friend of Sirius, and yes, I'm helping him," I responded. "Voldemort has returned and we're here to stop him."

The elf gave me a look like what I had just said was sacrilege. "You cannot do that! What would my mistress say if she heard such things being uttered in her house? Oh she would be upset with Kreacher for allowing such things."

The elf continued to ramble on and I wasn't quite sure if he was even talking to me anymore or just thinking aloud. Either way I decided it wasn't a conversation I wanted to be a part of, so I reluctantly sat up and made my way out of the parlor and thankfully the elf didn't follow. I was a bit pissed that I had only managed a few measly hours of sleep thanks to him.

I walked down to the kitchen and when I looked at the clock there saw that I had only been asleep for a grand total of four hours. Realizing that would be all the sleep I would get for the time being, I put a pot of water on the stove and soon had a nice steaming mug of coffee.

I had just taken my first sip and glanced at the front page of the Evening Prophet when Anke walked in. Of course she looked utterly perfect, even in baggy sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt with her hair pulled back into a ponytail. She showed no signs of being sleep deprived, even though I knew she had to be.

"So," she said when she sat down across from me. "There is a creepy house-elf wandering around here and apparently he likes to get right in your face while you sleep and just stare at you until you wake up."

I raised my eyebrows at her and let out a low sigh. "Yeah I know, I got the same wakeup about ten minutes ago."

She summoned the kettle off the stove and soon had her own mug of instant coffee. "I feel kinda bad, I mean I whacked him across the room, but then he just started mumbling to himself and walked away."

I smiled, wishing I had done something like that. Being part elf made me very sympathetic to house-elves and their hard way of life, but I really didn't have too much room for guilt if one of them was creepy. "You know it's rude to beat up other peoples house-elves," I said sarcastically.

"Hey I'm all for house-elf rights and everything, but I smack anything that's in my face when I'm roused out of a dead sleep."

"I'll be sure to make a mental note of that," I responded in a tone that was laced with double-meanings.

Anke got my hidden undertone and just let a very slow and seductive smile play across her face. "Be sure that you do," was her only reply.

A silence fell between us as I picked up the Prophet again and began to read the front page. Obviously the tragedy the night before had captured the front headline, yet the story was very unclear as to the actual events. It had stated that Harry had won the tournament and that Cedric had tragically lost his life during the final task. No mention of the champion's disappearing or of Voldemort returning was even mentioned. I guessed that the Ministry was covering up the actual events in an effort to control the story. They were clearly going to be relying on the Daily Prophet as a propaganda tool from which they could spread their message that everything was fine.

I had just finished reading the front page (there was also a smaller article there about the abrupt resignation of Moody from Defense Against the Dark Arts for 'personal reasons') when Anke spoke up again. "So what is our next move, now that the shit has finally hit the fan?"

I really had to think about that. I had spent the better part of the last few years doing all sorts of research on Voldemort yet we had never made any plans of attack for when he eventually returned.

"I think," I began, "that right now we have to lay low and wait for more information. We have Severus on the inside and we're pretty blind until he tells us what Voldemort is planning. Our emphasis should be on public awareness. We have to start recruiting members for the Order, because we for sure know that Voldemort will be doing the same for his team."

"You don't think that we should come right out and announce what has happened?" Anke asked.

I ran my fingers through my hair for a moment before I answered. "I think that Dumbledore will do that, but I'm not going to hold out hope that the majority of the people will believe him. If Fudge declares Dumbledore a liar and uses the Prophet as a smear campaign, then most people will believe him because its just easier than accepting the reality."

"But how could anyone be so blind?" Anke persisted.

"Because you don't know how bad it was last time Voldemort had power. I barely saw the tail end of it, but let me tell you it was bad. Anyone you talked to could have been a spy, people were being killed in public on a daily basis, and no amount of personal security could protect your family. Men, women, or children, the Death Eaters didn't care who they killed. No one wants to remember those times, let alone accept the fact that they are upon us again."

Anke then asked the one question that I didn't want to hear, "Is this a doomed cause then?" A small shadow crossed her face when she finished, as if she were afraid to hear the answer.

Again I stalled before answering the question, this time by taking a long sip of coffee. When I finished I had drained the entire cup. "It seems like it is, but we have to look at what we have on our side."

"Well, we have you guys, the biggest collection of badass wizards on the planet," She said. I noticed that she didn't include herself in that mix.

"And we also have you, and you know your just as good as any of us, except me," I added.

That little statement put a smile back on her face. "Thanks, it mean a lot that you think of me as one of you guys," she said truthfully. Then she changed her tone and said "But lets not forget that I kicked your ass first."

"You really want to get into this now?" I asked. "We can go out back and settle it once and for all if you want."

She seemed to consider it for a moment, but instead just made me another cup of coffee, brought her feet up underneath her so she was sitting Indian style on the chair and leaned across the table to look me strait in the eyes. "No, I'm fine for now. I want you to tell me what else we have going for us and reassure me that we're going to win this battle."

"Well, we have Dumbledore, and he can never be counted out of the equation. He is the greatest wizard of our age and the only one that Voldemort won't attack directly. As long as we have him we have a fighting chance. We also have Harry."

"Harry?" She asked somewhat disbelievingly. "He's just a boy. I know he's accomplished a lot in his lifetime, but we can't actually count on him as an ally can we?"

"Not right now, no. I believe our objective, more than anything else, is to keep him alive. Dumbledore believes that Harry is the key to defeating Voldemort once and for all, so we must make sure that he learns as much as possible so when the time comes, he can do the job that the prophecy foretold."

"That is correct," said a voice from the other side of the room. When Anke and I turned we saw Dumbledore standing in the doorway. "Harry is the key to everything," he continued. "He alone possesses the greatest strength necessary to overcome the evil of Tom Riddle."

"More strength than any of us?" Anke asked.

"Yes. Lord Voldemort prays of the week of mind. He enjoys seeing people turn on their loved ones out of fear for their own well-being. Harry is different. He is literally selfless, and would be willing to sacrifice himself for the well being of others. Although he does not know it now, that will be his greatest weapon."

Anke looked a bit skeptical, but she hid it quickly. My guess was that, like me, she trusted Dumbledore no matter what her own judgment may be. "It sounds like a huge burden for someone so young to bear."

"That is why I have not told him yet. I fear that the time has long since past when I should have told him of his fate." Dumbledore sat down at the table and helped himself to the pot of water, which he quickly heated up with a tap of his wand. In an instant there was a steaming mug of tea in front of him.

"So what do you think our next step is?" I asked him.

"We must proclaim the existence of Lord Voldemort to the world," he replied. "We start with an announcement before the Wizengamot, and then we travel to Geneva and address the International Confederation of Wizards."

"What do you mean 'we'?" I asked.

"Why I would have thought you would have known. Now, more than ever, I need you by my side Marc."

We waited just a few days for Hogwarts to let out for summer break before Dumbledore called a special session of the Wizengamot, which was the equivalent of muggle parliament or congress. I never agreed with the fact that the Wizengamot had both legislative and judicial powers, but perhaps that's because I grew up in America where there was a clear separation of powers. I distrusted anyone who had the power to both charge you with a crime and then try you for it.

The room was over crowded, with every seat taken and people standing in whatever small space they could find. Dumbledore seemed utterly at ease even though he was about to deliver the most earth-shattering news to be heard in over fifteen years. I, on the other hand, was pretty tense. Although I pretty much knew what the outcome would be, I still held on to a sliver of hope that just maybe enough people would see reason and force Fudge to take action.

Dumbledore moved to the podium and I followed and stood by his side. I could see many members of the Order and everyone in Omega Team sitting in the audience. As soon as Dumbledore arrived at the podium flashbulbs went off everywhere. He calmly waited for everyone to settle down before he began his speech. Although the senior members of the ministry knew what was coming, I guessed that the entire wizarding world would be taken off guard by his revelation. I had to admit I was surprised that this kind of story hadn't been leaked beforehand, but maybe that was part of Fudge's master plan.

"Members of the magical community," he began. "Thirteen years ago, on Halloween night, Harry Potter defeated one of the most feared dark wizards in the history of wizardingkind. The atrocities committed during his reign can be considered nothing less than crimes against humanity, and I'm sure there isn't one person in this room that wasn't somehow affected by his actions.

"Upon his death we celebrated the dawn of a new age. His followers were captured immediately and although a few may have escaped, by in large the war was over and people looked forward to an era of peace. There were questions, of course, as to what really happened that night in Godric's Hollow. Did he really die? Could he really die? Alas these questions went unanswered because we were too relieved that everything was over and decided instead not to worry about it.

"Now, my fellow witches and wizards, I'm afraid we are paying the price for our ignorance. Lord Voldemort was defeated all those years ago, but he was not killed. Somehow his spirit endured, and it has been wandering the earth all these years desperately seeking a way to regain his body. During the final task of the Triwizard Tournament, Harry Potter and Cedric Diggory witnessed first hand the return of Voldemort. Diggory did not live to tell the tale. Showing bravery that was above and beyond what any normal wizard would, or could do, Harry escaped with the body of Diggory and has alerted me to the dangers that now face our way of life.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that the dark lord has returned to finish what he began so many years ago. Now is the time to act, for if we do we can prevent many of the opportunities that helped Voldemort obtain so much power during his last reign. To lie, to tell ourselves that it is impossible for him to be back, would only allow him to gather the power and numbers that he had before. We must act now in order to thwart his attempts. I'm asking you, the magical community, to stand by me and fight while the advantage is still ours."

I expected the crowd to go ballistic, yelling and screaming that it wasn't true and that Dumbledore was out of his mind. Instead the entire hall was dead quiet, no one letting out so much a whisper. Many people's mouths were open slightly in a state of shock. I couldn't blame them either, they had just been told that the thing they most feared had returned to haunt them.

Dumbledore remained standing at the podium, apparently waiting for the audience to regain their composure. I think the fact that I was standing next to him helped his credibility. Both of us have the uncanny ability to command attention and to have us side by side created a more forceful appearance. After a few moments Fudge finally stood up and looked directly at Dumbledore.

"You and I have already had this conversation in private," he roared in an authoritative voice that I never new he possessed. "You stand here and make these outrageous claims with no proof except that of a deranged boy! How dare you!"

Dumbledore stood there and showed to emotion despite being the victim of a verbal outburst. "If you will listen to reason and logic Cornelius, then I can show you why my claims should not be taken lightly. None of the evidence I have brought forth to you requires any leaps of faith in order to believe. It does require one be willing to admit that one the dark days we endured many years ago are upon us yet again."

"You've been after my job for ages!" Fudge roared back. "As far as I can see, this is just some plot by you to take my office by causing a state of fear!"

"That is preposterous," Dumbledore countered. "I no more desire you job now that I did when it was originally offered to me. I do, however, desire you cooperation in combating Voldemort."

Fudge seemed to be out of arguments, so he just resorted to the basics. "Liar!" He screamed at Dumbledore. "You're nothing but a liar!" He turned from Dumbledore and addressed the rest of the assembly. "Do not listen to him. The ministry has always been here to serve and protect you. True there have been mistakes made, and people like Sirius Black are still on the loose, but your safety has always been our primary concern. We would never let another dark wizard obtain the kind of power that he-who-must-not-be-named achieved!"

The crowd erupted into cheers. Everything I had feared was coming to fruition. Somehow Fudge had taken control of the crowd and no one would listen to reason. We had tried to alert the wizarding world to the dangers that now faced them, and they choose instead to turn a blind eye. The fact that Dumbledore was voted out of his position in the Wizengamot later on was icing on the cake for Fudge. I couldn't believe that such a small and inconsequential man like him was able to best Dumbledore and convince an entire nation that all was safe and well.

A few days later Dumbledore and I traveled to Geneva to make the same announcement to the ICW. Unsurprisingly things didn't go much different. Dumbledore was quickly stripped of his position and I was put on the spot. I was told to sever my ties with Dumbledore and have my entire team return to Geneva immediately. Of course I refused and told them that my entire team was loyal to Dumbledore. We were subsequently relieved of our duties and told that we were banned from England. Should any of us be caught in the country we would face charges and be deported. I saw this as an empty threat because there was little way anyone on my team would be caught by the English ministry, although it did mean we would have to keep a low profile.

Not everything was fruitless however. Dumbledore's speech at the ministry did turn the heads of a few people. Kingsley Shacklebolt and Nymphadora Tonks thought it very odd that Dumbledore would go through such great lengths to spread lies. They met with Dumbledore directly and when presented with the facts came to the conclusion that Voldemort must have returned, it was the only sane answer. Soon afterward Sturgis Podmore also met with Dumbledore and was soon a member of the Order. More people joined after that, so our announcement to the world wasn't a complete waste of time.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9: The Summer of Voldemort's Return

Although we didn't move into Grimmauld Place, Blue Team spent a lot of time there. Joanna and Jack took up residence in other parts of the country and we maintained contact, but it was best that we stay as separate as possible. Since we were exiled from the country it was best to not congregate together.

The entire Weasly family moved into Grimmauld Place for the summer. It was much easier this way because the kids could help clean the house and make it somewhat livable. The house was so bad that it almost couldn't even be used as a headquarters because off all the infestations and such. Dumbledore's hope was that by the end of the summer the entire house would be clean and people could stop by and take a bedroom for an extended stay without any problems. As it turned out the only livable room at first was the kitchen.

Molly Weasly wasted no time putting her children to work. At first they were excited, thinking that by doing the housecleaning they would also be asked to join the meetings and become part of the Order. When they learned that it wouldn't be working out like that their morale quickly plummeted.

Those first few weeks were very hard, especially because of the blow up with Percy Weasly. Add to that we were constantly waiting for reports and had no clear direction and it isn't surprising that the mood in the house was very low.

Despite all this we tried as best we could to make the best of the situation. The Weasly children always looked forward to us stopping by because no matter what the circumstances, we would always find a way to have fun. It seems odd to others but when your job is to combat the most dangerous wizards in the world, humor is often the best way to cope with the stress. The bond that I had formed with Matt, Kim, Aya, and now Anke was very strong and we always found ways to have fun and relax even during the most stressful times.

Molly and Arthur also enjoyed our visits because we could make them laugh just as much. Molly especially liked us I think, probably because we could be seen as positive influences on her children, unlike Mundungus Fletcher. Dung was amusing in his own right, but he wasn't the kind of person who you'd want your children to look up to.

Hermione arrived shortly after the Weasly's moved in and it was a bit awkward at first. Both her and Ginny Weasly would stare at me for a while and turn a bit red when I caught them. The boys did the same thing with Anke until Molly eventually called them out on it by telling them to 'stop staring at us like a unicorn caught in the wand light.'

I had petitioned Dumbledore to allow us to collect Harry and bring him to Grimmauld Place as soon as possible, but he maintained that the safest place was at Privet Drive. Voldemort, he reiterated, could not touch him there and any Death Eaters sent there would find him protected by members of the Order. Any attempt to move him would be watched by the Death Eaters and may lead them strait to Grimmauld Place. So Harry would have to wait, even though it was killing him to be alone without any news.

Meanwhile the Order grew quickly. Dora Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt joined us days after Dumbledore's speech to the Ministry. To have two Aurors on our side was a huge plus, made even better when Sturgis Podmore, the unspeakable, joined a week after that. Suddenly we had eyes and ears inside the ministry just as Voldemort did.

Things weren't ideal, the majority of the population still believed Fudge and his insistence that Voldemort was still dead, but we were confident that all was being done to thwart the dark lord. There was a lot riding on Hagrid's mission in Europe to appease the giants, but it was too soon to worry about that. We didn't plan on hearing from him for a few months.

Matt and I had instituted a weekly movie night as a way to relax and have fun. The first one was a complete failure because Arthur Weasly kept interrupting every few minutes with questions about how the TV worked, how a movie was made, ect. We had to make him promise that he would remain silent for the entire time before we watched another movie. It was a little cramped in the parlor with the entire Weasly family, everyone on Blue Team, and anyone else who happened to stop by, but that's part of what made it so fun.

Matt had wanted to show a lot of classic American films as a way of 'educating' everyone about great movies, but I said it was best to just stick with comedies to help lighten our mood. Mel Brooks thus became a favorite. It didn't matter if you were magical or not, his films were just silly and had everyone in hysterics. We were halfway through Blazing Saddles when Kingsley walked in and motioned to me that it was my turn to keep watch over the department of mysteries, the place that housed the prophecy that Voldemort was trying desperately to get his hands on.

Reluctantly I got up and made my across the room and down to the front door. I had to grab Moody's spare invisibility cloak off the coat rack because disillusionment charms were tricky for me and I usually ended up casting a sub-par one.

It was after 9:00 when I left Grimmauld Place for the Ministry, but there were still people in the atrium. Some were leaving after what looked like a long day at the office, and others were getting ready to work their graveyard shifts. It was funny that the Ministry blacklisted me and yet not a one person stopped me as I made my way through the light crowd towards the lifts.

The best way to blend in is to look like you belong. I walked with a stride that suggested I knew exactly where I was going and nothing about me looked suspicious, so nobody gave me a second thought. I did have to be on the look out for senior level officials who would undoubtedly recognize my face, but otherwise it was incredibly easy to gain access to the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.

The long corridor was deserted only for a moment, and then Nymphadora Tonks appeared out of thin air. The young Auror gave me a smile as she made her way past me to the lifts. "Enjoy your night, nobody ever comes down here after ten."

"So I don't even have the luxury of people watching to help pass the time, great," I replied. This was my first night shift and it sounded like it would be pretty boring.

"Yeah, sorry bout that," she said. "What's going on back at headquarters, anything important?"

"Movie night, round three. Arthur has actually been able to keep quiet through the entire thing so far. If you leave now you may be able to make it back for the last half hour."

She seemed to ponder that for a moment before shaking her head. "Naw, I gotta be back here early for work tomorrow, I think I'll just head home and turn in."

"You sure?" I teased. "Remus is there and I'm pretty sure there was an empty seat next to him when I left."

Her hair went from bright purple to fireball red, a clear giveaway that I had hit home with the last comment. For a metamorphmagus to involuntarily phase like that was the equivalent of a normal human blushing. Sure Dora had kept her feelings for Remus a pretty guarded secret, but its not hard to pick up on the subtle cues people give off when they're attracted to another person. It must be human thing.

"Maybe I'll go say hi then," she conceded. Her hair changed back to purple. "Just don't tell him how I feel okay, it's kinda embarrassing because he's a lot older than I am."

I shrugged. "Age should never be a factor, but your secret is safe with me." I was aware of the hypocrisy of that last statement because to me age was a very important factor, but I figured a gap of ten years wasn't a big deal.

"Alright, I'll see you later then," she remarked as she made her way towards the lifts. "Try not to fall asleep, it'll get real tempting to do so later on."

I gave her a mock salute. "I'll find a way to resist the urge. Have a good night."

I watched her enter the lift and go up, and then threw on the invisibility cloak and sat down on the floor for what promised to be a very long night. Much like Hogwarts, muggle electronics couldn't function at the ministry with all the magic in the air, so I couldn't even listen to an MP3 player while on duty.

I can't begin to describe the boredom of sitting in the middle of a long hallway for eight hours with absolutely nothing to do. The invisibility cloak I was wearing was tight on me so I couldn't even read a book because the cloak wouldn't cover it. It would look awfully suspicious if someone happened to walk by and saw an open book hovering in midair.

After the first hour my ass got numb from sitting on the hard ground so I stood up and started pacing up and down the corridor in an effort to stay sane. At first it proved to be a nice deterrent from just sitting on the cold floor, but after a few minutes it became just as monotonous and I soon wanted to kill myself again. Perhaps next time I'd have someone cast a disillusionment charm on me and a book so that I way I could at least have something to read while being stuck down here.

I was just considering how bad it would be if I sat back down and dozed for a half hour when I heard the lift start to open. I looked over in that direction and saw Lucious Malfoy exit along with another person. They both were doing their best to keep quiet as they snuck towards the entrance I was guarding. When they were about ten feet away from me I threw off the cloak. Surprise flashed across Lucious' face but the other man didn't even move.

"Were you guys going somewhere?" I asked in a mocking tone. "I think this corridor is closed right now."

The shock on Lucious' face wore of and in its place was a look of anger. "Last time I checked," he sneered at me, "You were blacklisted from this country. I could call the Magical Law Enforcement Office right now and have you arrested."

I nodded my head. "I bet you could, but then what would you tell them when they asked what you were doing down here after hours?" Malfoy didn't really scare me. He wasn't nearly as smart as he thought he was. The guy he was with did concern me a bit. I couldn't put my finger on it, but he looked oddly familiar.

Malfoy changed tactics. "So you're the dog that Dumbledore has guarding the prophecy. It makes sense, your part servant anyway."

I assumed this was a cheap shot at me being part elf, but I let it pass. "Very astute. I'm the one guarding the prophecy so you can run along and tell your master that it's quite safe and secure."

The other man stepped forward. He was short, but muscular. I could tell by the way he carried himself that he had a quiet confidence in his abilities. He showed absolutely no fear when he looked at me. "So what's your move Marc?" He asked me. "Going to play hero and try and take us?"

I entertained the thought for a moment, but then dismissed it. "Naw. It's tempting, don't get me wrong, but as there is no direct connection between you two and Voldemort, it would look like I attacked two innocent men." Malfoy flinched when I dropped Voldemort's name, but the other guy again didn't even move.

Suddenly it clicked; I realized where I knew this guy from. "I remember you, I tried to recruit you for Omega Team. Your name is Greg Baum."

The guy named Greg nodded. "Top in my class at Hogwarts, Passed every single one of my N.E.W.T.'s with flying colors. Joined the Auror program right afterwards and was the youngest inductee in over a hundred years."

"So why does someone who is so smart and so talented join up with Voldemort?"

Greg let a slow evil grin spread across his face. "Are you wondering why a non-Slytherin would join up? Yes, I was in Ravenclaw, and I have no ambition for power. Given time I'm sure I'd move up through the ranks in the ministry just fine. I'm incredibly smart, and I know what Voldemort does is wrong, evil even. I'm not under any spell or anything.

"What I want is status. My father left my mother when she told him she was a witch. He said it wasn't natural. Unfortunately she was already pregnant with me when this happened. I've spent my entire life in poverty, and no matter what I accomplish I'll always be known for my rags to riches story. That may seem all good to some people, but I never want to be seen as someone who was poor, ever. That kind of status follows you around forever and I'm tired of it.

"With the Dark Lord things like wealth don't matter. Blood status and magical power are the only things he prides himself on, and that's what I like. I'm the worst kind of Death Eater; the kind who knows what he is doing is wrong but doesn't care. I believe full well in my cause, and am willing to do anything to ensure its success."

I rolled my eyes. "Your also someone who likes to hear himself speak."

At this I saw a flash of anger in his eyes. "I'm not foolish enough to fight you here. Your more than a match for the two of us, I'm smart enough to know when I'm at a disadvantage. However let me warn you, I'm not someone you want to fuck with. I'll wait for my opportunity, and when you're tired, or hurt, I'll be there to kill you."

I shrugged. "Good luck with that. Now are you gentlemen going to be going or should I raise an alarm and call for security to come down here?"

Malfoy's eyes narrowed. "We'll be going, but you might want to think about leaving also. The ministry will be receiving a tip that an illegal alien is currently roaming about the lower levels."

I waved to them as they made their way to the lift. "Bye bye. Nice chatting with you guys, give your master my best wishes."

I'm not one who is normally spooked by encounters like the one I just had, but something about Greg made me think he was no ordinary peon of Voldemort's. I had wanted him for Omega about ten years ago, which meant that he was a great wizard, and I got the feeling that he wasn't the type of person to back down from a fight. I also took him at his work when he said he would try and kill me when I was at a disadvantage. I wasn't scared of him by any means, but I was perhaps a bit wary. It's never a good idea to whimsically dismiss people like that.

I reported to Dumbledore what had happened and he told me much the same thing. He had seen Greg's talent firsthand at Hogwarts and instructed me to not underestimate him. Unfortunately we were unable to discuss the matter much further because news from Little Winging arrived. Apparently Harry had been expelled for using underage magic.

I immediately apparated to Number 4 where I met a hysterical Ms. Figg and was able to get the details about what exactly had happened. I sent a patronus to Dumbledore right away informing him of the attack by Dementors resulting in Harry's use of his own patronus to ward them off.

Jack and Red Team appeared moments later and took up defensive positions around the Dursley house in case of another attack. At the time we didn't know who had sent the Dementors and thus assumed that it had been Voldemort and were ready should any Death Eaters appear. Anke also came with Jack and she and I went to investigate the scene of the crime.

"Well, as usual we seem to be too late," Anke said as she looked around. We both had our wands out but after determining that there was no threat we both were just holding them at our sides.

"Dementors don't leave any traces so it's impossible to tell if they've been here," I replied. "Though I don't see any reason for Harry and Arabella to lie about what they saw. The real question is who was giving them orders to attack. You want to weigh in?"

"I'd put five galleons on the ministry ordering it," She said. Since I won our bet for the Triwizard cup she had been trying to get her money back.

"Your on. It doesn't make any sense for the ministry to order this. I know they want Harry expelled but they wouldn't go through such drastic measures. This has Voldemort written all over it."

Anke raised her eyebrows at me. It had the effect of looking both challenging and sultry at the same time. "Why would Voldemort send Dementors after Harry? Voldemort knows Harry has been able to cast a patronus for ages; it wouldn't make any sense to attack with them. Why not just have Death Eaters attack him directly."

She had a good point there. Neither possibility seemed very likely, but I was convinced that Voldemort had to have something to do with it. I knew Fudge too well to see him ordering an attack on Harry; he didn't have the balls to do it.

"Well, let's get back to Grimmauld Place. Dumbledore will want to get Harry out of Privet Drive as fast as possible to we better start planning an extraction scenario."

Anke nodded her head. "Race you there." Before I could even comment she disappeared, leaving me behind.

It felt it just a little strange to know that after working for so long to protect Harry from Voldemort, I still hadn't actually met him. I'm sure he had seen me before, but he never knew who I was or what I was actually doing to keep him safe. I think I was a little nervous about meeting him to be honest, I mean he is the one who is supposed to vanquish the deadliest dark wizard ever. How do you introduce yourself to someone like that?

After much consideration we decided on two groups to collect Harry from Privet Drive. The Advance Guard would be the ones actually escorting him while the Rear Guard would be scouting the area looking for potential threats. Omega Team was to make up the Rear Guard, and our job would be very difficult.

While the Advance Guard just had to ensure Harry's safety, we had to make sure that nobody got close enough to get to him and thus make the advance guard necessary. We all knew that Voldemort had scouts placed around the neighborhood so our job would be to make sure those scouts didn't send word for reinforcements.

We were all congregated about seven streets over from Privet Drive, waiting for the signal from the Advance Guard telling us they had Harry and were ready to go. Jack and Joanna had taken their teams on a scouting mission around the neighborhood and just informed me that the coast was clear, for the time being.

I kept scanning the sky, looking for sparks. At this point I was feeling jittery, just waiting for something to happen. I had a feeling that Voldemort wasn't going to make this easy for us.

Jack's Patronus suddenly came up in front of us. "Still all clear, continuing to sweep the area," it reported. I exhaled a bit but still wasn't completely calm. Kim shifted her weight next to me and I could tell I wasn't the only one on edge.

The night couldn't have been worse for an extraction. The moon was full and cast a pale light over the entire neighborhood, without any clouds in the area to possibly hide it. We may as well have done this during the middle of the day for all it mattered.

Despite the heat wave that was gripping the nation I felt goosebumps race their way up my skin. Too much could go wrong in doing something like this, and I didn't like exposing Harry.

A policeman turned the corner at the far end of the block and started walking towards us. Somehow I figured he intended to find out what five adults were doing loitering in the middle of a residential block. Apparently Petunia Dursley wasn't the only nosey person around, we were drawing attention just standing on the sidewalk in front of a plain looking house.

"Distract him please," I muttered to Anke. Things were tense enough as it was and I didn't need someone questioning us while I was trying to keep a lookout.

She took off and met the officer before he could get all the way to us. I felt sorry for him because Anke had her charm level turned up to max. Before long she had the guy eating out of her hands and he was soon gone. Anke came back to us with a pleased smile on her face.

"Men are so easy to manipulate," she remarked.

"Damn strait," Kim replied. "Just smile a bit and laugh playfully at their bad jokes and you got em'. If the need arises you can just puff out your chest a bit and you got a closed deal."

I had a few remarks in my head to that, but I was too busy keeping a watch to comment aloud. Everyone was nervous and Kim and Anke were just trying to calm themselves by joking a bit.

Suddenly red sparks lit up the sky in the direction of Harry's place. The Advance Guard was ready to go. I only had to wait for a few moments before Jack and Joanna sent patronus' to me telling me everything was clear by their positions. I nodded towards Matt who sent up the reply in the form of green sparks. I saw dark figures silhouetted against the moonlight night sky rise into the air and take off in the direction of London. Harry was on his way. A moment later, all hell broke loose.


End file.
